First I read Victoria's blog. I learned how they make commercials for Snuggies. She had some good insight such as "Then, they have to film people struggling with blankets, in black and white. Somehow, in black and white it shows how bad things usually are. I'm not exactly sure why because black and white movies seem perfectly happy to me". It made me laugh quite a lot. I also learned she thinks instead of trying to improve iPhone apps and iPods, we should be trying to improve cars to be more energy efficient and better for the environment. She thinks that if MySpace was a country, it would be the largest. I would say that Facebook is beating MySpace out. Next, I read Carey's. Apparently scientist had almost reached absolute zero, though I'm not quite sure what that means. He also thinks scientist should make dome things and sooner or later, people will be living on the moon. Lastly, I read Lucas'. His title was "Internet poop" and he doesn't use Facebook Myspace or YouTube. I'm assuming he thinks those things are poop. He is "a proud advocate for proper speech". I think in terms of technology, people have a lot of different opinions, like whether money should be put into greenhouses for the moon, or energy-efficient cars. I don't agree that Facebook is "poop" because it helps me keep in touchw ith family memebers that I don't get to see that often, and i suppose you could aargue that I should just get on the phone, but i think that's a different kind of communication, and having different forms of it is good.

Things I Would Teach my Parents about Technology

I figured I would start this question out by asking my mom. She said that she doesn't know how to hook the camera up to the computer and download pictures and send them to people. That would be pretty easy to teach her, I do that all the time. I think it would be really fun to show her how to use GIMP, because that was my favorite program to work with in technology class. It would be fun to have her re-create the Mel's logo. Also, she could use it to make posters and hand-outs for the bowling alley. Instead of hiring someone to design things, she could try to design it herself. I don't think there is much I could teach my dad. He's pretty good with computers. So is my brother. Also,my grandpa. He used to work at IBM . My sisters is okay at computers. I think I know how to use GIMP,and my parents don't. Also,I'm learning Access, which I don't think my parents know either. That could make their lives easier. Instead of having to scroll through a list of their registered league bowlers, they could to select,from,categories to get a certain group of people. Maybe I'll show my mom how to use it.

Teens and the Internet

How do things like Facebook and Myspace change the way teens interact and communicate? I think you can defiantly act different online than you can in person. Alot of people are less shy online, because when they're talking to someone online, its not a face-to-face interaction. You can't see eachother, so you're alot less inhibited. It's kinda like confession. I like sitting behind the partition, so I don't have to look in the face of the priest I'm connfessing to. But, putting on a mask when you're online probably isn't the best thing to do. I think things like Mysapce and Facebook can be good though. Like when you want to keep in touch with people who are far away, like my cousins in Lewisville, or my St.Michaels friends I don't get to see that often. I think when teens are careful, and are more themselves online, its a good thing. I think maybe kids could be more open in real life if there weren't such things as Facebook and Myspace. If we're constantly connected to people, at school and at night, my thought would be that school is more boring. All the things you want to tell them the next day, you can on Facebook. Maybe that's a girl thing? I think without Facebook and Myspace, teens could probably get in a lot less trouble. I also think communication with the people we like, and love would maybe be more special, whether we see them every day or once every three months.

Living without technology

I think living without technology would be pretty hard. I think I could live without my cell phone, because it's taken away from me all the time. What if i didn't have television, or the computer? That would be pretty weird. Not being able to get onto Facebook or watch my favorite shows. I don't think life would necessarily be boring, it just would be hard not to be able to communicate with everyone like I do. Like how i keep in touch with all my st.mike's friends from Facebook. School could get harder without the computer too. No computer would mean no Microsoft Word, or Excel. How would i get home assignments done? I'd have to write everything by hand. That wouldn't be too hard except those long papers Coach and Fr.John assign. Three pages, double typed. They would probably make my hand write 6 pages front and back. What would I do in my spare time? I like to think I don't spend all of my free time on the computer. That would be pretty lame. But i wouldn't be able to watch T.V. Maybe I would spend more time outside? I probably would. Our backyard is a mess. I could clean it up, make it pretty. Buy some new chair cushion thingies. That would make it nicer to be outside. I'm not really sure what the kids who don't have technology do in their spare time. I bet they're a lot more fit than kids who do have all the latest technology. I'm sure I would be. I think of all the times I'm not using technology as much is in the summer. I'm hardly ever on the computer in the summer. I wake up, eat and go swimming for a really long time. I come home, eat dinner and stay up really late watching T.V. Then i pretty much repeat. I think if i didn't go to high school and my life wasn't so stressed I could probably go without technology.without computers or television. But,what if i didn't have a car? That counts as technology too. Does fridges too? Oh goodness. If my family didn't have cars, we would have to walk everywhere. That wouldn't be too bad for school, since I only live like 2 1/2 miles away. But that would be terrible for my parents to get to work. What if we didn't have a fridge? That counts as technology, right? That would be pretty weird. We'd have to buy powdered milk.gross.And we wouldn't have water from the fridge, we'd have to start buying those jugs of it. And no eggs for us either. I think life without technology would be so weird. I'm glad I live in these times.

Starting a Buisness

What are some important things to keep in mind in order for businesses to be successful? I think advertisement and promotions are extremely important. You have to get the word out about your business. Sponsoring events, like festivals, and auctions, gets you name out in the public, on the backs on t-shirts, etc. No one but the people who drive by your building every day on their way to work will know about it if you don't advertise. That's what kills some businesses. Sure, you've got people you somehow hear about your business and use it, the regulars, but if you don't get more consumers, more people to hear about it, you're not going to profit. Also, promotions are important. When new people come into your business and see a special going on, they're going to be even more excited to spend their money and time there. Also, it's kind of like a thank you to the regulars, a way of showing your appreciation. It shows you know how to draw people in, with specials prices or deals. Two-for-one deals on items or services. But what also kills some businesses is too many promotions.Eventually you're going to lose money. Y9u need to blance giving deals but also selling full price. I think with great promotions and advertisement you can have a good buisness.

music/software piracy

I guess i don't really know how prevalent music piracy is. I've never illegally downloaded anything. or, at least i don't think i have. but i know its happening.I think kids my age think that since so many people illegally download music or software, no one will find out if they do. i guess maybe that's the difference between downloading it and downloading it and selling it. i also think kids my age think since they re not eighteen, not adults, their in the safe zone. they cant get into real trouble. i think its wrong because the people who create the music or software aren't getting recognized for it, or earning money for it. like iTunes is legal, because of the artists consent and profit. I'm not really sure how you could prevent it. there's always people who break the law and get away with it and i think a lot of people are getting away with piracy. i think it takes a lesson learned, and hopefully someday they'll get there's.

Changing Technology

If I could change any technology in the world, it would be computers. We would get rid of the keyboard and mouse. Instead, a wire would go into your ear like a head phone, and your computer would do whatever you think. So if you thought, open the Internet, computer, the Internet would open! And if you thought, open Word, it would open Word, and you would just think of what you want to type, and it would show up on the screen. This would make things really efficient for people, but you’d have to be careful because if you thought two things at once like, I need the internet, but at the same time, I should go to Word, the computer would get all slow and frozen trying to figure out what you want. It would be easier for people who are bad at typing, like me, and we would be rid of those pesky mice forever. I think this would be extremely exciting, but I'd defiantly have to collaborate with some people to make it happen, because I have no computer smarts. I would also put in the option for a microphone, instead of earphone, so you could just speak to the computer. I think some people would like this better, and it would be really cool, like how Tony Stark talks to his computer in Iron Man. So you could just say what you wanted done. That would be pretty cool.

How'd they do that?!

How'd they build the Taj Mahal? It was built in the 1600's. What architectual skills did they have to build the dome on top? Or get those tiny little points on top of the domes. Or the towers rising on the side. Did they have advanced scaffolding? Did people die building it? I wonder if people know it's a tomb. What does the inside look like? Is is as beautiful as the outside? I always see pictures of the outside, never the inside. Are there altars to pray for the dead inside? Are there candles burning, incense? I went to google and looked up images. Its really pretty inside. Shah Jahan, the emperor of of the Mughal empire, built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, after her death during childbirth. He was placed on house arrest soon after is completion by his son Aurangzeb, and was buried next to his wife after he died. An elaborate pulley system, and an extremely large scaffolding system was the technology used to build the Taj Mahal. It is named one of the Seven Wonders of the World