1984... Again?

In high school, I had to read the book 1984 for my junior year and thought I would never had to pick up the dusty book off of its shelf again! I’m glad I used it again. I suppose I thought I would never have to use it until I had children of my own to pass it down as my mother has given me a copy of 1984. The book that I used dated back to the 70s and it was beginning to show signs of browning along the inside of the book, but luckily for me I wouldn’t have to “kill” it by carrying it around in my backpack. My father also had a copy of the book, but his was too tarnished to even bring to school let alone use it. The book he had look like he analyzed the pages over and over again (there was notes and tabs still inside it as well as underline/highlighted section of words).

In regards to the presentation that my group prepared, I thought it was good. I just wish my Aunt’s influence wouldn’t mess with me this time but it did. When I got nervous in the front of the class, I started with a normal voice…but then…suddenly as it hit me…my Aunt’s New Yorker accent came up and I couldn’t control it! You see…I practically live with my Aunt during the summer and have visited her every summer! When I’m with her I naturally go into New Yorker speak (haha, newspeak, get it?) with her and when I get really nervous I do that which is natural to me…which is to speak in a New Yorker’s accent. It’s pretty weird how that goes…

Anyways, my group did a fantastic job on 1984. I was very pleased with it. The slideshow, the speakers, and the points made it all work out. If you want the summary of 1984 I think my friend, B-lovely, have pretty much summarized the book and have captured the essence of it. There is a link on the bottom if you wish to check it out.

http://brittslovelyblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/1984.html?showComment=1260809750107_AIe9_BF2SwwL1OaO31WJK8g0kd5rHsLEBXtZblVA1_fk_Y8lNb2X3FjZxg3gaUgT6lKoxNnX7Sk8ZI9BaVj4UxZHH0FXSe6zBfsIoNI1_lqpc6qElIWbjYcS42rd2SYV5FUF2SpgL9kz4KVa0WZ2s04PM6rXgi_0_rmSNpcpwkuAFLG1EtzJPZxqKQHwfdFK1gUEmB4HQwMLOeEKsZpy61bKrcgNqy97mA#c7725981241941541229

Physical vs Digital

First of all, I do not think every document is going to be digitalized. Sure, a lot of data will be digitalized but, not every photo, piece of text, or newspaper clipping is going to make it to being digitalized.

Second, I would prefer that there is a digital as well as a physical copy because I’ve learned in the past that computers cannot be trusted unless it has a backup hard drive that keeps the data on the computer saved on the backup. I have had a history of computers crashing on me! Due to either computer viruses or my computer was the 1 in 3,000 made that had a malfunction and only estimated to last for a couple years before it going completely dead! I lost photos, essays, and medical files before I started investing in a backup drive for my computers (time capsule for my recent Mac computer).

Third and final point: I love being able to flip the pages of a catalog. It’s the only type of mail I get and I enjoy receiving them! Sure, I like shopping online as much as the next person but, I just like the physical aspect of the store catalog in my hands. I really don’t understand as to why I like it more than the online catalogs. Is it the feeling of it in my hands really make a difference? I don’t know but, I like it.

Guest Speaker: Erik Hanberg

A speaker came to our class the other day. His name is Erik Hanberg and he is a man of the future. He says that there are more jobs to be found in the virtual world and that you might make it big by just making one "black swan." Black swans rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations, such as YouTube or Google. He also writes and owns his own business online and works along his web designing wife who has ninja powers over the designing process(jk)! Anyways, he gave me the inspiration to make my own site and hopefully it will become the ever so rare black swan.

Scavenger Hunt

I had no idea I had to bring my computer to class! I left utterly useless just sitting there in class! I tried helping in other ways such as suggesting sites and writing down those sites. All and all, I think it would have been so much easier if I had my laptop...the only problem is that I'm not allowed to bring it to school because the Mac laptops tend to crash very easily or at least my Mac laptops do. My last Mac laptop that my family bought in March crashed once before and we brought it to the Genius Bar in the Apple computer store to get it fixed. The man behind the bar tells me that I have been moving my laptop too much and it should remain stationary the entire time it is on! Even though a laptop is made to be portable as well as versatile! I heard; now don’t quote me on this but, a 3rd of computer laptops are going to crash within three years of purchasing them. Maybe my computer was the lucky one of the bunch and crashed three years earlier within our warranty so, we were able to fix it without any additional charge!

Convergence....?

What the heck does convergence means?! I looked it up in the dictionary after I thought about the possible meanings for the word...I thought I might've known the actual meaning from dissecting it into parts and go back to what I have learned about the route word but, that didn't help me much. I actually cracked open a dusty dictionary and I swear, there was a bat flying out of its moldy pages and a couple of moths slowly floating away from me. Anyways, I looked up the meaning of the word convergence and this is what I got: a coming together from different directions, especially a uniting or merging of groups or tendencies that were originally opposed or very different.

Is this the meaning that my professor met for the students to find? I think not! So, I did what every student would do in this day and age…Go online and look it up on Wikipedia! There! I found the answer! Convergence has something to do with programming language, telecommunications, and routing protocol! It all makes sense to me now! Thank you Wikipedia! You’re the best!

Why Leaves Really Fall Off Trees? By Robert Krulwich

You think you know why leaves fall off trees. Well, you're wrong. It's not the wind. It's not the cold.

It's because trees use "scissors" to cut their leaves off.

We call this season the "fall" because all around us right now (if you live near leaf-dropping trees in a temporal zone), leaves are turning yellow and looking a little dry and crusty. So when a stiff breeze comes along, those leaves seem to "fall" off, thus justifying the name "fall."
Sounds reasonable, no?

But the truth is much more interesting.

According to Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and a renowned botanist, the wind doesn't gently pull leaves off trees. Trees are more proactive than that. They throw their leaves off. Instead of calling this season "The Fall," if trees could talk they'd call this the "Get Off Me" season.

Here's why.

Around this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, as the days grow shorter and colder, those changes trigger a hormone in leaf-dropping trees that sends a chemical message to every leaf that says, in essence, "Time to go! Let's part company!"

Once the message is received, says Raven, little cells appear at the place where the leaf stem meets the branch. They are called "abscission" cells. They have the same root as the word scissors, meaning they are designed, like scissors, to make a cut.

And within a few days or weeks, every leaf on these deciduous trees develops a thin bumpy line of cells that push the leaf, bit by bit, away from the stem. You can't see this without a microscope, but if you looked through one, you'd see those scissors cells lined right up.

That's where the tree gives each leaf a push, leaving it increasingly dangling. "So with that very slender connection, they're sort of ready to be kicked off," says Raven, and then a breeze comes along and finishes the job.

So the truth is, the wind isn't making the leaves fall. It's the tree.

The tree is deeply programmed by eons of evolution to insist that the leaves drop away. Why? Why not let the leaves stick around? Why drop?

Raven explains that leaves are basically the kitchen staff of a tree. During the spring, summer and early fall they make the food that helps the tree grow and thrive and reproduce. When the days get short and cold, food production slows down, giving the tree an option: It can keep the kitchen staff or it can let it go.

If trees kept their leaves permanently they wouldn't have to grow new ones, but leaves are not the brightest of bulbs (sorry!). Every so often, when the winter weather has a break and the days turn warm, Raven says leaves will start photosynthesizing. "They get some water up and they start operating and making food and then it freezes again."

When the cold snap's back on, the leaves will be caught with water in their veins, freeze and die. So instead of a food staff that's resting, the tree is stuck with a food staff that's dead. And when spring comes, the permanent help will be no help. The tree will die.

That's why every fall, deciduous trees in many parts of North America get rid of their leaves and grow new ones in the spring. It's safer that way.

So for leaves, falling in the fall isn't optional. The trees are shoving them off."

I loved this article! I heard it on NPR this morning and I couldn't help but immortalizing by posting it on my blog! I actually learned something new and interesting while dozing off and on the bus this morning. Happy Days!             
        ^   ^
 /'''/( =^.^=)/'''/

                          

Happy belated Halloween!

What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy




night! With what wistful look did he eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the



waste fields from some distant window! How often was he appalled by some shrub covered with



snow, which, like a sheeted specter, beset his very path! How often did he shrink with



curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread



to look over his shoulder, lest he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind



him! and how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among



the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scouring!


- - - Washington Irving (a quote from "The Legend of Sleep Hollow")

Vanity Search

        Wow, just wow. I haven't done a vanity search in a loooong time. The last time I checked was when I was a freshman in high school and the search resulted in disappointment (I expected that I would be in the computer system somewhere but, when I looked it up... all I could see was violin rosin). I never bothered to look up my name since then. And now, looking up my name in Google search, my name was everywhere! In fact, I showed up as the first result! I do not know if I should be proud of that though. Now that I think about it... it's pretty scary. Think about it. Anyone could just look you up by just typing in your name into a search engine. In reaction to this, I tried to set all of my profiles on private so, that only the people who are my friends can look at my profile information. I would hate for a complete stranger to able to access my information that easily!

I can even look up my character on WOW. Other players, who are duel freaks, can check my stats and navigate how to defeat my character!  http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Nordrassil&n=Loox

Mark Brigg's Brilliance

Quite a few days have passed since Mark Briggs, co-founder and CEO of Serra Media, had visited my Virtual World computer class. He is one of the first guest speakers to come to our classroom.

Mark, being a former writer for the News tribune, spoke to us about the direction in which newspapers were to be heading toward the future. He spoke of the newspaper as if it weren’t dying and it being still alive but in a different way. He said that the newspaper’s current model was incompatible for today’s technology and that it should remodel its current business model. So far, several newspapers have posted a website on the net…updating them from hour to hour or at least as frequent as the events of the day may allow.



Mark also spoke of the businesses he has recently had a hand in creating, such as Townluxe and Newsgarden. TownLuxe is a location program that allows people to share insight on the bargains. The location program was made for the site Bargain Babe by Serra Media. Serra Media also has created NewsGarden (very similar to TownLuxe), which allows users to get involved with their community’s newpaper and the newspaper to get more involved with the community. In other words, it works both ways.

Dream of Late

I had a weird dream last night: My family and I were invited to stay in a apartment building that is sitting on top of a dormant volcano as long as we wanted. We ended up packing a light bag to go and check it out (we were not planning to stay there ...long b/c my father had business to tend to AND we brought Nightmare with us). Once we were there we noticed that there were others moving into the apartments, very important people, such as biophysicists, political figures, inventors, etc… There was also a full maid/butler service. My family and I enjoyed our stay there (had a swimming pool, a fully equipped entertainment room, a SPA, and a grooming/pet service for Nightmare!) Although we did notice some very weird things. For example, one of the maids’ left hand and arm was burnt after she put her hand under her shower's water. The doorknobs started to heat up and burnt some of the people's hand. We started to notice other unusual things start to happen: the floors felt hot against our bare feet, the porch that overlooked the forest was completely melt and broke off...tumbling down the mountainside.Finally, my family and I started to pack up and get the hell out of there! The other people were too! Everyone was crashing for the front door in an attempt to get out of the house... Then I realized as to why everything was melting or becoming hot to the touch... The volcano that lies underneath us was active. The man, who built this house, intended for us to stay and melt away like the porch! Now I knew as to why there were so many important people staying here! Everyone was scrambling out by that time, running down the mountainside. My mother and father beckoned me to go with them; I told them that I need to find Nightmare (dropped her as realization hit me). So, I go off searching for Nightmare while my parents made it down the mountain. I looked everywhere for her! As I was searching the floors were smoking! I took a turn here and there and finally i found Nightmare! In some little girl's arms? I guess she was left behind in all this mess... SO, I took my cat and the girl's hand and RAN. I ran out that front door as fast as my feet could let me. Pulling the girl with me the entire way... I looked back as I ran down the slope. Seeing the smoking luxurious apartment building on top of the volcano drop into the molten lava that lay in the core of the mountain. I watched it go in one bubbly gulp. As the apartment melted into the lava, it started to pour out of the sides. I was almost at the bottom of the mountain! I could see my mother and father in their car waiting for me! I tugged on the little girl's hand to make her go faster. Boy was that a mistake! She fell onto her knees... she couldn't run anymore, she says, so, I had to do the one thing I could... Carry her on my back and let her hold Nightmare. I ran down the last curvy slopes to the silver Toyota. Opened the door and pushed the little girl into the car. DRIVE- I told my father and he drove as fast as he could outta that place.

HTML-Webpage Disaster

     To tell you the truth, this is my second experience in making a website. My first experience in typing one up was ghastly. Typing the code into WordPad was time-consuming and tedious. Uploading the page onto the net took even longer than I expected it to (this was when I had dialup instead of high speed internet). When the process of uploading it was finally finished, I got to glance at my work for the first time on the net and what I saw was not what I wanted to see. It was as if the page was done by a 2 year old whose tool was not crayons but with the keys of the keyboard. I remember noticing three of the biggest flaws to the page: the pictures weren't in the right places, the background coloring looked blotchy, and the text was so small that I had to put my face up to the Monitor’s screen. Everything about that webpage just seemed to be not what I expected it to be. I expected it to be one of the best sites out there but, it didn’t turn out that way. I ended up deleting the horrid site from the web and kept my mind busy doing other things that needed to be done. Not once since then have I tried to make a site from scratch until now. This time around I was able to create a high quality webpage from scratch with the help of sites that guided me through the process of making it. Although the page was a bit trite, I liked how it came out. It did not look as though an amateur had done it and that is what pleased me. Hopefully sometime in the future I will set up one that would be a bit better.

"Delaware 1st grader has 45-day suspension lifted-

A Delaware first-grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school as punishment for taking his favorite camping utensil to school can return to class after the school board made a hasty change granting him a reprieve. The seven-member Christina School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the punishment for kindergartners and first-graders who take weapons to school or commit violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days. Zachary Christie, 6, had faced 45 days in an alternative school for troublemakers after he took the utensil — a combination folding knife, fork and spoon — to school to eat lunch last month. Now, he could return Wednesday."

Stories like this makes me wonder.It makes me question the common sense of the people who are in charge of that school district.The kid was obviously bringing it to school to eat his lunch with.He wanted to eat with his lunch with an awesome utensil that he used in the past while he was camping. He wasn't taught to use the utensil as a weapon ...so why is a 1st grader being punished to this degree for something he didn't on intend on using it as a weapon? This is probably what the "deadly" weapon looked like.

Deconstruction of Information Operations

Just the other day, my father sent in his paper, To Kill a Mockingbird: The Deconstruction to Information Operations, to a publishing company online and just within days of submitting the paper…The paper appeared in several online military journals. He did not seek profit from submitting his paper but he wanted to share information with others. (Here is a link to the paper.) http://http//smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/283-rosin.pdf

You’re probably asking as to why I’m bringing this up. Why am I telling you about my father’s paper? Well, haven’t you noticed about publications today? The process is faster as well as free, right? All of the information that is out there today can be accessed by everyone. No one needs to buy a newspaper or a magazine anymore. I can just go online and see the what is currently happening in the world. Even though I can access the news via online... I still have a subscription to a newspaper and a couple of magazines. I still want the physical feel of a crisp newspaper or the feeling of flipping through colorful Traveler's magazine. I still want to be able to read the newspaper in paper form while its still available. The Internet cannot beat the physical aspects of getting a newspaper thrown onto your doorstep and having it accidentally hitting the garden gnome over.

Direct mail vs Email

Email and direct mail has its advantages and disadvantages. Email is fast, easy, cheap, and has downloadable attachments (for photos, files, videos…etc)! Email can also be good for businesses, getting in touch with distant relatives/friends, and a great way to transfer information fast. When you are writing an email you can use either informal or formal language depending on whom the email is to be sent to. You can even manipulate the template to suit your needs, whether its business involved or not. With email, you can pretty much do anything you like with it and do not have to worry about the mailman or someone peeking into your mail. The only downside to email is the fact that you get a downpour of spam mail…I get a bunch of emails that are just pure spam; most of which has some sort of virus inside them that is just waiting for you to open it so that the nasty little virus can infect your entire computer and eventually crashes it! Eek! I hope that never happens but, it can…given that the email account you have doesn’t have a virus check on the mail that is coming into your inbox (I know I do!). Enough of email! The postal service is great! It allows you to send personalized letters to your loved ones as well as allowing you to show much more emotion through your writing. It also shows that you took the time and effort to send it, making the receiver of the letter feel special. Direct mail can be used just like email; you can use formal or informal language in the letter, receiving a bunch of junk mail…etc. Although, direct mail takes a lot more time to get reach its destination, it’s a way to relax a bit. Honestly, I feel more relaxed when reading through my mail than my email. I don’t know why exactly but, I tend to sit back and loosen up when reading my mail. When I read through my email, I’m usually sitting at a desk staring at a screen. Overall, email and direct mail are two ways of communicating to one another; you make the decision on which to choose to communicate with.