Everybody in the world has the little person that they imagine living as. They always wounder what it would be like to be, for example, Bill Gates, or possible Oprah Winfrey. For me, that person is Niel Armstrong. The thought of being the first person to even walk on the moon, is even Breathtaking to think of. The first reason that I believe this is because he got to explore non-human territory. Also, he was able to feel the feeling of barely any gravity. He knew what it was like, to experience something new.
You know when you have lived in a house for while, but you find a new room or something like that. You get the urge just to stay there forever, and to show everybody you can. This is the exact same for the moon. I understand how much he most likely wanted his family to be there to see what he was able to see.
Every person in the lifetime, always will at one point be able to fly. Niel was the one chosen though, to axtually fuffill that. He was able to go and not only fly, but also to fly with his friends. He was able to experience no gravity while in the space ship, and on the moon he could end up jumping to 10 feet high.
Experiencing something new, is one of the best feelings in the world. Its like when you go to your first baseball game, for a boy, or go and watch a musical for the first time, for a girl. Going to the moon is an adventure that you will always want to live, even when you have done it mutiple times, the urge just never goes away.
Because of all these facts, I always tell people that I would just do anything, to even be Niel Armstrong for even just a day. Experienceing new things, no gravity, and having the ability to say that you have been in outer space, is something that I believe is amazing.
I Commented on Mitch's Blog
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Blogs
Blogs are passages of writing that we create to improve and to develop our writing skills. In Grade 8, we write one blog every week, which indeed does help us with our writing skills, but when we have to do it repeatedly once every seven days our mind starts to get tired and lose interest, and it just becomes another mindless ‘task’. I believe that we should come up with an alternative to fix this problem.
Admittedly, when you perform any action repeatedly such as writing, you tend to get better at it. Your brain remembers what you’ve done and what mistakes you’ve made, and it remembers not to repeat that mistake. For example, when you write ‘alot’ instead of ‘a lot’, you notice it’s incorrect and your brain will remember not to repeat the error.
Even though blogs do help us learn, after a while our brains feel like they are going on auto pilot. When you do any task too many times, of course, you’ll start to get bored of it, most likely because it will become a pain rather than a learning experience. For instance, when you go to a restaurant that you really love over and over again, it starts to lose its flare.
I believe that we should attempt to change how the grade eight students do blogs. I believe that we should reduce the frequency of writing blogs and replace them with another idea, such as us teaching younger grades what we have learned. I imagine that this would be a respectable alternative for blog writing because for a lot of people teaching is the best way to learn.
Blogs or writing in general, is something that should not be overdone. You need to write every once in a while, so that you will learn, but still have fun at the same time.
I Posted on Remy's blog about the Stanley Cup
Admittedly, when you perform any action repeatedly such as writing, you tend to get better at it. Your brain remembers what you’ve done and what mistakes you’ve made, and it remembers not to repeat that mistake. For example, when you write ‘alot’ instead of ‘a lot’, you notice it’s incorrect and your brain will remember not to repeat the error.
Even though blogs do help us learn, after a while our brains feel like they are going on auto pilot. When you do any task too many times, of course, you’ll start to get bored of it, most likely because it will become a pain rather than a learning experience. For instance, when you go to a restaurant that you really love over and over again, it starts to lose its flare.
I believe that we should attempt to change how the grade eight students do blogs. I believe that we should reduce the frequency of writing blogs and replace them with another idea, such as us teaching younger grades what we have learned. I imagine that this would be a respectable alternative for blog writing because for a lot of people teaching is the best way to learn.
Blogs or writing in general, is something that should not be overdone. You need to write every once in a while, so that you will learn, but still have fun at the same time.
I Posted on Remy's blog about the Stanley Cup
Grade 8
Grade eight is going to be one of those special years, which I will most likely remember forever. During this year, I experienced so many different things and learned so much compared with any prior year. It is amazing that every year at school you feel that you have learned more than what you have learned in the past years in total since you started school. As an example, instead of doing a regular essay or something under that category for an English project, we got the option to make a video game, or the smallest book ever. While in grade eight you end up feeling so strong and so confident because you are the oldest in your middle school. But probably the best part of grade eight is the freedom. Instead of the usual, “Get to work and do it,” we get classes where we have the option to work on anything we want.
Before grade eight, whenever I heard that we are going to start a new project, I always thought that it would be something like a research project, presentation, essay, or report. I always thought that it’s going to end up being something that I have done before, and I already know what to do. However, now that I’ve gone through grade eight, I always wonder what is going to be different each time I do a project. It always ends up being a new experience.
When you entered middle school and you entered grade six, you were always so scared of the people in grade seven and eight. When you got to grade seven, you started to feel a little more confident, but you were always still a little shy. As soon as you hit grade eight though, your fear just vanished into thin air. You feel like you become the boss of everybody and that no one can really push you around.
In grade eight classes, you start to get the freedom to work on different subjects in some classes. For example, you might finish a science project early, and instead of the teacher just giving you more science work, he might let you work on a history project. I find this to be such an important improvement because this doesn’t require teachers just to keep giving you more homework.
Grade eight is one of those years that you will remember, because you will go through so many changes that are for the better. Although there might be a couple negative facts, such as the work being a little bit more difficult, all the positive facts will completely over-run them. So a message I would like to give out to any student coming into middle school or grade seven is that soon enough you will be able to be the oldest and most powerful in middle school.
I Commented on Keegan's Blogs about Reality TV
Before grade eight, whenever I heard that we are going to start a new project, I always thought that it would be something like a research project, presentation, essay, or report. I always thought that it’s going to end up being something that I have done before, and I already know what to do. However, now that I’ve gone through grade eight, I always wonder what is going to be different each time I do a project. It always ends up being a new experience.
When you entered middle school and you entered grade six, you were always so scared of the people in grade seven and eight. When you got to grade seven, you started to feel a little more confident, but you were always still a little shy. As soon as you hit grade eight though, your fear just vanished into thin air. You feel like you become the boss of everybody and that no one can really push you around.
In grade eight classes, you start to get the freedom to work on different subjects in some classes. For example, you might finish a science project early, and instead of the teacher just giving you more science work, he might let you work on a history project. I find this to be such an important improvement because this doesn’t require teachers just to keep giving you more homework.
Grade eight is one of those years that you will remember, because you will go through so many changes that are for the better. Although there might be a couple negative facts, such as the work being a little bit more difficult, all the positive facts will completely over-run them. So a message I would like to give out to any student coming into middle school or grade seven is that soon enough you will be able to be the oldest and most powerful in middle school.
I Commented on Keegan's Blogs about Reality TV
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Cove
When I hear someone talk about a documentary I always instantly think that they are going to be boring, and give no decent information, but “The Cove” has greatly impacted that thought. The Cove is movie about the recent outburst of dolphin slaughtering, and how it impacts our world. This movie tells us this by showing us three main facts. The First is that most fish meat labeled as whale meat is actually dolphin meat. The next one is that most of the slaughtered dolphins come from china. And finally they show us a way to stop this from happening.
The majority of grocery stores that sell fish labeled as whale meat are actually lying to you by not telling you that most of the whale meat you see, is actually dolphin meat. The reason that this is so important is because Dolphins have an extremely high dose of mercury poisoning which make them extremely unhealthy, while whales have very minimal amounts. The Recommended amount of mercury is 0.5 PPM, but dolphins can hold up to 2000 PPM.
You may be thinking about, “Where does all this meat come from?” The answer is actually China. In china there is a large supply of dolphins, making it one of their main exports to other countries. One reason why the Chinese kill all these dolphins and export this meat is because they are easy to kill because they are so sensitive to sound. Any loud noise can easily kill or at least knock a dolphin unconscious.
The group people that made this video understand how people who watch their documentary will most likely want to end up helping all of the people. Because of this, they made it so that if you text “Dolphin” to a certain number, you would be able to help prevent more slaughtering of dolphins.
I really love this documentary because it almost seems as if it is based on an essay. They give an intro, and tell you what’s happening. They give you some facts about it, and why it’s happening. And finally they give you a solution that you can follow to fix it.
I posted on Brenden's Blog about
The majority of grocery stores that sell fish labeled as whale meat are actually lying to you by not telling you that most of the whale meat you see, is actually dolphin meat. The reason that this is so important is because Dolphins have an extremely high dose of mercury poisoning which make them extremely unhealthy, while whales have very minimal amounts. The Recommended amount of mercury is 0.5 PPM, but dolphins can hold up to 2000 PPM.
You may be thinking about, “Where does all this meat come from?” The answer is actually China. In china there is a large supply of dolphins, making it one of their main exports to other countries. One reason why the Chinese kill all these dolphins and export this meat is because they are easy to kill because they are so sensitive to sound. Any loud noise can easily kill or at least knock a dolphin unconscious.
The group people that made this video understand how people who watch their documentary will most likely want to end up helping all of the people. Because of this, they made it so that if you text “Dolphin” to a certain number, you would be able to help prevent more slaughtering of dolphins.
I really love this documentary because it almost seems as if it is based on an essay. They give an intro, and tell you what’s happening. They give you some facts about it, and why it’s happening. And finally they give you a solution that you can follow to fix it.
I posted on Brenden's Blog about
Running
Physical activities are no longer for the good
And
A waste of time
No one can say that exercising is
Stretching our muscles
And also
Getting rid of weight
Spending time Running
Is pointless when you could be
Playing video games or lying down while watching TV.
The sensation of kicking a soccer ball
Is nothing compared to
The feeling of watching a funny video on YouTube
When I grow up
I will tell my children
Never Exercise
Understand that you shouldn’t
Listen to your friends
When you finish and you understand how life will be, we must understand that sometimes we must reverse it.
I Posted On Wyatts Blog about Talking online (MSN, Skype, etc.)
And
A waste of time
No one can say that exercising is
Stretching our muscles
And also
Getting rid of weight
Spending time Running
Is pointless when you could be
Playing video games or lying down while watching TV.
The sensation of kicking a soccer ball
Is nothing compared to
The feeling of watching a funny video on YouTube
When I grow up
I will tell my children
Never Exercise
Understand that you shouldn’t
Listen to your friends
When you finish and you understand how life will be, we must understand that sometimes we must reverse it.
I Posted On Wyatts Blog about Talking online (MSN, Skype, etc.)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Under Aged Drinking
Lately a lot of bars throughout the country are starting to check IDs before people are allowed to enter because of the rising amount of under-aged drinkers. You may be asking why, well I believe that there are many reasons, but I believe that there are three main reasons that I will focus on. One of them is the fact that the body may not be ready by that age to drink and the organs in the body may need a little more time to develop fully. It may not only affect the organs in the body, but it could also affect the brain. Alcohol at such a young age almost puts the brain in a “resting” mode, which is terrible for children that are going through school and studying, which requires them to always be thinking. Finally, the most important fact is addiction. When you start drinking at a young age, your body starts to grow accustomed to having beer or wine. When you grow up, you body will end up always wanting it.
When we grow up, our body grows up with us. At a young age the organs in our body are not fully developed, which causes them not to be able to handle anything we throw at them. We have to wait for them to fully develop to be able to handle alcohol. The reason why is because when you drink alcohol, the body breaks it down and turns it into a dangerous material called acetaldehyde which can damage your DNA
Although alcohol affects our organs, it also affects our brain. When growing up we of coarse go through school, which will always require our focus and attention. What alcohol does is it takes away our ability to focus and think. It is scientifically proven that our learning ability declines progressively as we age. Therefore to miss the opportunity to learn at a young age will become a permanent loss which cannot be replaced in the future.
The thing that applies to everything in life applies to alcohol the most, addiction. How addiction for alcohol works is that after we try it for the first time, we will start to feel relaxed. The next opportunity you get to drink alcohol you will accept because you thought it felt nice. And then after that it will happen again, and it will end up just repeating itself until it becomes a daily habit. When this happens for alcohol, its terrible because the contents in alcohol have the ability to damage our body, and our brain.
There are so many consequences for under age drinking. You could damage your internal organs such as your liver, your lungs, or possibly your heart. You miss the opportunity to learn and study. And finally you sometimes can just easily get addicted. This shows that when you do things that your body isn’t ready for, your body will start to break down, and it could ruin your life.
I commented on Tristans blog
When we grow up, our body grows up with us. At a young age the organs in our body are not fully developed, which causes them not to be able to handle anything we throw at them. We have to wait for them to fully develop to be able to handle alcohol. The reason why is because when you drink alcohol, the body breaks it down and turns it into a dangerous material called acetaldehyde which can damage your DNA
Although alcohol affects our organs, it also affects our brain. When growing up we of coarse go through school, which will always require our focus and attention. What alcohol does is it takes away our ability to focus and think. It is scientifically proven that our learning ability declines progressively as we age. Therefore to miss the opportunity to learn at a young age will become a permanent loss which cannot be replaced in the future.
The thing that applies to everything in life applies to alcohol the most, addiction. How addiction for alcohol works is that after we try it for the first time, we will start to feel relaxed. The next opportunity you get to drink alcohol you will accept because you thought it felt nice. And then after that it will happen again, and it will end up just repeating itself until it becomes a daily habit. When this happens for alcohol, its terrible because the contents in alcohol have the ability to damage our body, and our brain.
There are so many consequences for under age drinking. You could damage your internal organs such as your liver, your lungs, or possibly your heart. You miss the opportunity to learn and study. And finally you sometimes can just easily get addicted. This shows that when you do things that your body isn’t ready for, your body will start to break down, and it could ruin your life.
I commented on Tristans blog
Television
Television has become one of the most addicting pastimes for so many people in the world. Since 1923, when the first television was invented, it has been gaining more popularity. Although a lot of people believe that this is either for better or for worse, I believe it is for both. One topic I would like to focus on is education. A lot of channels these days are starting to lean toward being educational. They attempt to make sure that in almost every episode the audience learns something knew. Another detail is that a lot of people enjoy watching violence and such, which is also commonly found on TV; but there is the problem of small children watching these shows and attempting to imitate. I would also like to talk about addiction. Many people these days automatically get glued to the television when they come home and they never feel like doing anything else such as exercising, going outside, or possibly spending time with their family.
Most shows now a day are starting to incorporate education. In my opinion, I believe that this is the right thing to do because a lot of people spend good amount of their day watching TV instead of doing productive things such as working. Making TV educational end up allowing them to learn new things, such as how to cook, or how to exercise, or it can even teach children to be polite
Generally, a lot of people in the world believe that violence is an amazing and fun thing to watch. Even though I do agree with this, I also believe that there is a negative side to watching violence. Most violence comes from violent TV. What I believe ends up happening is that kids end up watching TV when they are young and then they start to think that that is how life is. As an example, a small child might see that someone on TV gets revenge on someone else for hurting him or her. The child might end up running into a bully at school, which might end up hurting the kid. Because of what the child saw on TV, he could think that it would be better to fight back, rather than to go tell a teacher.
For most people TV is a way to get away from everything; from school, parents, family, friends, and sometimes physical activities. Now I understand that there is nothing wrong with this if it’s done occasionally, but what tends to end up happening is that people get addicted, and it becomes what they do all day. As soon as they end up coming home after an activity, or straight after they wake up, they go straight to the TV; this usually ends up causing them to gain a lot of weight, and to start becoming unhealthy, and sometimes they even lose friends. There are so many problems, we need to find solutions for, and I believe that parents should think about monitoring how much time their children spend watching TV
As you see, Television can be a positive and negative asset at the same time. You may be able to learn new things that you can use in your life, but at the same time you could run into violent programs, or possibly get addicted. Although you may be thinking that the best option is to just not watch TV, its not. People created TV for enjoyment and that is what people should use it for. I just believe that people need to be careful of what they watch, and how much they watch it.
I Commented on Roberts blog
Most shows now a day are starting to incorporate education. In my opinion, I believe that this is the right thing to do because a lot of people spend good amount of their day watching TV instead of doing productive things such as working. Making TV educational end up allowing them to learn new things, such as how to cook, or how to exercise, or it can even teach children to be polite
Generally, a lot of people in the world believe that violence is an amazing and fun thing to watch. Even though I do agree with this, I also believe that there is a negative side to watching violence. Most violence comes from violent TV. What I believe ends up happening is that kids end up watching TV when they are young and then they start to think that that is how life is. As an example, a small child might see that someone on TV gets revenge on someone else for hurting him or her. The child might end up running into a bully at school, which might end up hurting the kid. Because of what the child saw on TV, he could think that it would be better to fight back, rather than to go tell a teacher.
For most people TV is a way to get away from everything; from school, parents, family, friends, and sometimes physical activities. Now I understand that there is nothing wrong with this if it’s done occasionally, but what tends to end up happening is that people get addicted, and it becomes what they do all day. As soon as they end up coming home after an activity, or straight after they wake up, they go straight to the TV; this usually ends up causing them to gain a lot of weight, and to start becoming unhealthy, and sometimes they even lose friends. There are so many problems, we need to find solutions for, and I believe that parents should think about monitoring how much time their children spend watching TV
As you see, Television can be a positive and negative asset at the same time. You may be able to learn new things that you can use in your life, but at the same time you could run into violent programs, or possibly get addicted. Although you may be thinking that the best option is to just not watch TV, its not. People created TV for enjoyment and that is what people should use it for. I just believe that people need to be careful of what they watch, and how much they watch it.
I Commented on Roberts blog
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Evensong
SJK The school provides many tedious activities, but there is one that I would like to focus on; its name is Evensong. Evensong consists of three main annoyances. The most bearable one in my opinion is the fact that when we enter the chapel, we must be completely silent. The next problem is the fact that during Evensong, we must stand up and start singing some songs that we sing every time. The worst part of Evensong though, is that we have to pray. For me and for most of the people in my class we get sick and tired of doing do the same thing over and over again every Friday.
Being silent is not that difficult, but when we are told to be like that for almost an hour, you’ve gone too far. Personally, I am perfectly fine with being silent for a little bit, or to be silent while being occupied, such as being silent while writing this blog, but when I am listening to announcements and the choir, it makes me feel so fed up. We need to find a way to fix this. I believe if we had something like a ‘break’ in the middle of Evensong, we could get relaxed, and we would be able to refocus. This will allow us to gather more information from the announcements.
During chapel there is two instances in which we stand up, one of them is singing. I find singing to be quite enjoyable, but going over the fact that this singing is about religion, and the reality of singing some songs a hundred times just feels like a little bit to much. Even though we do end up singing some new songs sometimes, I find that it doesn’t occur enough times. If every chapel session had a different song, it would spice things up. We would learn new rhythms, lines, and tunes, and it would end up improving our singing skills.
Continuing from the last paragraph, the second instant that we stand up is while we pray. I do understand that this is extremely important for some people because they are following their religion; for others though it’s a repetitive, tedious, and annoying task. The reason I find this to be is because that every chapel we say the same afternoon prayers every time, “Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name, in thy kingdom come...” I would say that a way to fix this is to say different prayers, but I do understand that this is what they are required to do. Even though I appear to have no solution to this problem, I do have one to Evensong.
Make it optional. Allow the kids who want to sing, pray, and follow their religion to go to Evensong. Allow the other kids to stay inside the school and participate in activities such as reading and doing research. This will fix most of the problems for everyone. They would be able to do what they want to do, and learn at the same time.
Being silent is not that difficult, but when we are told to be like that for almost an hour, you’ve gone too far. Personally, I am perfectly fine with being silent for a little bit, or to be silent while being occupied, such as being silent while writing this blog, but when I am listening to announcements and the choir, it makes me feel so fed up. We need to find a way to fix this. I believe if we had something like a ‘break’ in the middle of Evensong, we could get relaxed, and we would be able to refocus. This will allow us to gather more information from the announcements.
During chapel there is two instances in which we stand up, one of them is singing. I find singing to be quite enjoyable, but going over the fact that this singing is about religion, and the reality of singing some songs a hundred times just feels like a little bit to much. Even though we do end up singing some new songs sometimes, I find that it doesn’t occur enough times. If every chapel session had a different song, it would spice things up. We would learn new rhythms, lines, and tunes, and it would end up improving our singing skills.
Continuing from the last paragraph, the second instant that we stand up is while we pray. I do understand that this is extremely important for some people because they are following their religion; for others though it’s a repetitive, tedious, and annoying task. The reason I find this to be is because that every chapel we say the same afternoon prayers every time, “Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name, in thy kingdom come...” I would say that a way to fix this is to say different prayers, but I do understand that this is what they are required to do. Even though I appear to have no solution to this problem, I do have one to Evensong.
Make it optional. Allow the kids who want to sing, pray, and follow their religion to go to Evensong. Allow the other kids to stay inside the school and participate in activities such as reading and doing research. This will fix most of the problems for everyone. They would be able to do what they want to do, and learn at the same time.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Future
When you think about how the future will turn out, you probably think about hovering cars and things like teleportation. Although stuff like this might exist in the future, I believe that you should think about subjects that are more important when thinking about the future. You. Think about topics such as your career, your health, your residence, your family and so on. Then you should think about subjects on a broader view such as the future of the environment, advances in technology and medicine and the future of the world and governments. Although you may not be able to change these things, but they will have an impact on your life and if enough of us get together maybe we can have some impact on them as well. Lastly, you may think about positive changes in the world. On how our technology will advance or how our medicine will move forward. You may also think about negative things such as global warming, weapons of mass destruction and epidemics. You can see that the future gives you both challenges and opportunities. It is up to you and up to all of us how we leverage our tools to come up with solutions and control our future.
The whole point of school is to prepare you for the future. Every second you spend learning, prepares you for the future challenges. Most kids probably don’t realise this, but it’s true. The first eight or nine years of your life, may not seem to be that critical in terms of your future but when you think about it you would appreciate their importance. During these years we get exposed to many subjects from mathematics to geography, from LA to music. These years we have the best ability to learn and start thinking about which subjects we love most. This helps us to focus more on specific subjects which we want to learn when we go to the high school. The high school then helps us to start thinking about the university and our career. So you can see how the whole thing links up to our future – from the first grade all the way up to the university. If we do not take these years seriously, we are not building our future and we are losing the chance of controlling it.
In the future, current problems we have today will most likely grow into catastrophes. For example, global warming might slowly get worse. Today’s society really doesn’t care that much but they don’t realise that this will affect their children and grand-children. Right now you may think that global warming is the only problem that goes into that category, but no. Sicknesses are another. It started with the SARS sickness, then West Nile and then it moved on to Swine Flu. These sicknesses are going to continue to grow, and to get worse. The only problem with this happening is that we almost have no control over it. For example, the West Nile Virus was given to us by mosquitoes. We can’t just kill every mosquito in the world. It would completely ruin the food chain. However, maybe we can fight it another ways – by developing vaccines and by educating people. Basically what I am trying to say is that although we are unable to stop problems in the world, we may be able to prevent some by hard work, by trying and not giving up, by inventing and by teaching.
The future will not hold only negative aspects, but it will hold some positive ones too. Think about technology and medicine. The progress that we have made in these areas has helped us to live linger, safer and with better life style than our grand-parents did fifty year ago. These positive advances have given us the tools to fight the negative problems that our generation is facing. The interesting thing about this is that we have discovered more and invented more in the past ten years, than the thirty years before that. Think about what we can achieve in 50 years from now.
In summary, we have three things to deal with. The unknown future that is going to be full of challenges, the unknown future that is going to be full of opportunities and us at the present time with the certainty and the ability to learn, work hard, discover, invent and teach to achieve more control over our destiny and together over the destiny of mankind. The secret is always going to be how do we use our tools to solve our problems and how do we leverage our future opportunities to face our challenges. The only way that I can think of is to prepare ourselves for it.
The whole point of school is to prepare you for the future. Every second you spend learning, prepares you for the future challenges. Most kids probably don’t realise this, but it’s true. The first eight or nine years of your life, may not seem to be that critical in terms of your future but when you think about it you would appreciate their importance. During these years we get exposed to many subjects from mathematics to geography, from LA to music. These years we have the best ability to learn and start thinking about which subjects we love most. This helps us to focus more on specific subjects which we want to learn when we go to the high school. The high school then helps us to start thinking about the university and our career. So you can see how the whole thing links up to our future – from the first grade all the way up to the university. If we do not take these years seriously, we are not building our future and we are losing the chance of controlling it.
In the future, current problems we have today will most likely grow into catastrophes. For example, global warming might slowly get worse. Today’s society really doesn’t care that much but they don’t realise that this will affect their children and grand-children. Right now you may think that global warming is the only problem that goes into that category, but no. Sicknesses are another. It started with the SARS sickness, then West Nile and then it moved on to Swine Flu. These sicknesses are going to continue to grow, and to get worse. The only problem with this happening is that we almost have no control over it. For example, the West Nile Virus was given to us by mosquitoes. We can’t just kill every mosquito in the world. It would completely ruin the food chain. However, maybe we can fight it another ways – by developing vaccines and by educating people. Basically what I am trying to say is that although we are unable to stop problems in the world, we may be able to prevent some by hard work, by trying and not giving up, by inventing and by teaching.
The future will not hold only negative aspects, but it will hold some positive ones too. Think about technology and medicine. The progress that we have made in these areas has helped us to live linger, safer and with better life style than our grand-parents did fifty year ago. These positive advances have given us the tools to fight the negative problems that our generation is facing. The interesting thing about this is that we have discovered more and invented more in the past ten years, than the thirty years before that. Think about what we can achieve in 50 years from now.
In summary, we have three things to deal with. The unknown future that is going to be full of challenges, the unknown future that is going to be full of opportunities and us at the present time with the certainty and the ability to learn, work hard, discover, invent and teach to achieve more control over our destiny and together over the destiny of mankind. The secret is always going to be how do we use our tools to solve our problems and how do we leverage our future opportunities to face our challenges. The only way that I can think of is to prepare ourselves for it.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Technology
One thing that is present in almost everyone’s life is technology. Almost every minute of your life you are being affected by technology. When you are being affected by technology though it can either be for the good or for the bad. After figuring this all out, you should think about how our life would be without technology.
Every second of your life, you are bound to be near technology. For example, if you are reading this, then you have some technology right in front of your face. If you are reading a printed version of this, then the lights on top of you are on; also you had to print it to be able to read it. I believe that I can say with confidence that currently most people in North America can’t live without technology. Everyone in North America has lived his or her whole life with technology; it has become a necessity. On the other hand, some people believe it has become a problem for our society.
One aspect of technology is that it can take over your entire life. Instead of being out there exercising, you are playing with video games. Instead of travelling, you are watching the National Geographic Channel. Instead of playing tennis, you are pretending that you are playing tennis in your room in front of the TV screen with a Wii controller in your hand.
Continuing from the last paragraph lets go at it from a different angle. What would our life be without technology? No computers, no TV, no video games, everything would have to be done by hand. I would have had to write this whole post by hand. Coming from that idea, think about the famous books in the world. Only one person in the entire world (1/7000000000 approximately) would be able to read it. It is also important to think that how technology has improved every aspect of your life. From communication to medicine, from art to engineering, from convenience to security and so on and on.
In conclusion, I can say that just like everything else if technology is used in a proper way and in a balanced way, it will become your servant. Otherwise there is the danger that the technology could become your master taking over every aspect of your. I also want you to think about millions of people who have been killed because of war technology and millions more that have been saved by the everyday technological advances in medicine. Do you see the dual role of technology?
Every second of your life, you are bound to be near technology. For example, if you are reading this, then you have some technology right in front of your face. If you are reading a printed version of this, then the lights on top of you are on; also you had to print it to be able to read it. I believe that I can say with confidence that currently most people in North America can’t live without technology. Everyone in North America has lived his or her whole life with technology; it has become a necessity. On the other hand, some people believe it has become a problem for our society.
One aspect of technology is that it can take over your entire life. Instead of being out there exercising, you are playing with video games. Instead of travelling, you are watching the National Geographic Channel. Instead of playing tennis, you are pretending that you are playing tennis in your room in front of the TV screen with a Wii controller in your hand.
Continuing from the last paragraph lets go at it from a different angle. What would our life be without technology? No computers, no TV, no video games, everything would have to be done by hand. I would have had to write this whole post by hand. Coming from that idea, think about the famous books in the world. Only one person in the entire world (1/7000000000 approximately) would be able to read it. It is also important to think that how technology has improved every aspect of your life. From communication to medicine, from art to engineering, from convenience to security and so on and on.
In conclusion, I can say that just like everything else if technology is used in a proper way and in a balanced way, it will become your servant. Otherwise there is the danger that the technology could become your master taking over every aspect of your. I also want you to think about millions of people who have been killed because of war technology and millions more that have been saved by the everyday technological advances in medicine. Do you see the dual role of technology?
Monday, February 8, 2010
Vacations
One thing that everyone should experience is traveling and taking a vacation. When you go back to a school after holiday breaks, you always hear your friend talking about their travelling experience and how much they have learned from it. . Personally, this is why I find vacations to be essential in everybody’s life. First of all, it’s a chance for people to visit their relatives. It also lets you see other people’s customs. Lastly, it’s just a time to get away from all of it. It’s an opportunity to refresh the way you think and the way you appreciate life.
In my opinion, it so hard to have to stay away from your family, especially if they’re far away and you rarely get to see them. For me, this is one of the main reasons I go on vacations. You get to spend time with people you love. You can go out to restaurants with your family, or you can just go to their houses. As a quick side note, it’s amazingly fun when you can go and meet some of your relatives for the first time. It’s all positive except when you have to go back. It always gets so emotional when leaving.
When traveling to far away places on earth, you are able to see other customs, and you are able to see how other people live. This is such a healthy thing to experience at young age. You can see so many differing things, such as how much trouble places like Haiti are going through. You might be able to see racism in a place like South Africa. Yes, this can still influence you at an older age, but when you are young you are so prone to wondering, and you can get taught so easily.
Finally, its just a chance to escape all the trouble in the world. I find it so nice to just be able to go to a nice resort, and to just have the ability to relax in a hotel room. Also, I find it so nice to just get a break from of the school work. You can let your body recuperate, and then you can just return to your regular life. Your body would have rested, and at the same time it would let your brain rest.
As you see, vacation is one thing that everyone needs at one point in their lifetime. It lets you see how much trouble people are going through in the world. It also lets you see your family and friends, and just sometimes it lets you get away from everything. And now, I think that I am going to go on a vacation of my own right now.
In my opinion, it so hard to have to stay away from your family, especially if they’re far away and you rarely get to see them. For me, this is one of the main reasons I go on vacations. You get to spend time with people you love. You can go out to restaurants with your family, or you can just go to their houses. As a quick side note, it’s amazingly fun when you can go and meet some of your relatives for the first time. It’s all positive except when you have to go back. It always gets so emotional when leaving.
When traveling to far away places on earth, you are able to see other customs, and you are able to see how other people live. This is such a healthy thing to experience at young age. You can see so many differing things, such as how much trouble places like Haiti are going through. You might be able to see racism in a place like South Africa. Yes, this can still influence you at an older age, but when you are young you are so prone to wondering, and you can get taught so easily.
Finally, its just a chance to escape all the trouble in the world. I find it so nice to just be able to go to a nice resort, and to just have the ability to relax in a hotel room. Also, I find it so nice to just get a break from of the school work. You can let your body recuperate, and then you can just return to your regular life. Your body would have rested, and at the same time it would let your brain rest.
As you see, vacation is one thing that everyone needs at one point in their lifetime. It lets you see how much trouble people are going through in the world. It also lets you see your family and friends, and just sometimes it lets you get away from everything. And now, I think that I am going to go on a vacation of my own right now.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
School
Most kids shudder when they hear the word “school”. Parents, on the other hand, can feel like they have become young again. In all fairness, as an adult you still have to understand that, generally, kids are not big fans of school. The same goes for kids having to understand that school determines their future. In the end, you shouldn’t try to dislike or like school, you should find a way to bend it to your liking. In my opinion, though, there aren’t just one or two problems with schools; there are many.
The first and main problem is that it starts too early. For most kids, it’s very difficult to be forced to wake up at seven in the morning. The reason I believe this is because kids are used to going to bed around eleven o’clock and waking up around ten o’clock’. Then when they have to go to school, they usually go to bed around 9:00 and then get back up at seven. Doing this makes them lose one hour of crucial sleep. If you told your teachers this problem they would just tell you to go to bed one hour earlier, but no kid wants to sleep at eight or nine.
Moving away from sleeping, let us talk about a different problem: lunch time. Now, I’m not sure about high school, but I do know that in the middle school you don’t have nearly enough time. It’s risky to bring a microwave lunch because you end up wasting half of the time you have to eat lunch warming the food up, and then another quarter to wait for it to cool down. After lunch time, you will get a lunch recess, which is so much fun when you are in the mood, but when you just want to stay inside and hang out with your friends, you can’t. The only options are to either go outside or to go to homework club. Even homework club is a time to be with your friends, but as soon as you say even one word, “SHH” get’s implanted into your mind by the teacher running homework club that day. Okay, you have gone through the worst of the school day, but there is still some classes left. It’s the worst when you have a test at the end of the day, because you just don’t have any energy left in you. You’ve been tuckered out from your last classes. You end up thinking about what you might do when you get home, which drastically lowers your mark. It shows you that even though the school determines your future, it’s not doing the best it can to help you maximize your potential, so how can schools expect students to do their best?
From what you’ve read, you probably think that I am against school. Truly, I am, even though I still enjoy it a little bit. There are advantages to going to school for students too. As I said before, school helps you decide what you do in the future. This is why your parents want you to go to school. My favourite advantage is that you can make friends. Not only can you see them at school, but you can meet up after school and have even more fun with them. This is why some kids don’t just drop out of school. This shows how nice it is to have friends. It’s worth going through all of the troubles of school, just to see your friends.
Kids dislike school, but still they will go to school to see their friends. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, if they were to go for other reasons? By doing things like starting it an hour later or paying more attention to socializing and friendships, I believe school could be improved to become more enjoyable for students. This, in turn, would assist the students to enjoy school more and reach their maximum potential. This would require a joint effort between students and teachers, but I think it could eventually be reformed into a system that better-suits everyone.
The first and main problem is that it starts too early. For most kids, it’s very difficult to be forced to wake up at seven in the morning. The reason I believe this is because kids are used to going to bed around eleven o’clock and waking up around ten o’clock’. Then when they have to go to school, they usually go to bed around 9:00 and then get back up at seven. Doing this makes them lose one hour of crucial sleep. If you told your teachers this problem they would just tell you to go to bed one hour earlier, but no kid wants to sleep at eight or nine.
Moving away from sleeping, let us talk about a different problem: lunch time. Now, I’m not sure about high school, but I do know that in the middle school you don’t have nearly enough time. It’s risky to bring a microwave lunch because you end up wasting half of the time you have to eat lunch warming the food up, and then another quarter to wait for it to cool down. After lunch time, you will get a lunch recess, which is so much fun when you are in the mood, but when you just want to stay inside and hang out with your friends, you can’t. The only options are to either go outside or to go to homework club. Even homework club is a time to be with your friends, but as soon as you say even one word, “SHH” get’s implanted into your mind by the teacher running homework club that day. Okay, you have gone through the worst of the school day, but there is still some classes left. It’s the worst when you have a test at the end of the day, because you just don’t have any energy left in you. You’ve been tuckered out from your last classes. You end up thinking about what you might do when you get home, which drastically lowers your mark. It shows you that even though the school determines your future, it’s not doing the best it can to help you maximize your potential, so how can schools expect students to do their best?
From what you’ve read, you probably think that I am against school. Truly, I am, even though I still enjoy it a little bit. There are advantages to going to school for students too. As I said before, school helps you decide what you do in the future. This is why your parents want you to go to school. My favourite advantage is that you can make friends. Not only can you see them at school, but you can meet up after school and have even more fun with them. This is why some kids don’t just drop out of school. This shows how nice it is to have friends. It’s worth going through all of the troubles of school, just to see your friends.
Kids dislike school, but still they will go to school to see their friends. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, if they were to go for other reasons? By doing things like starting it an hour later or paying more attention to socializing and friendships, I believe school could be improved to become more enjoyable for students. This, in turn, would assist the students to enjoy school more and reach their maximum potential. This would require a joint effort between students and teachers, but I think it could eventually be reformed into a system that better-suits everyone.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Haiti
Recently, there has been an earthquake in Haiti (Alleged to be the worst disaster to happen on the Western hemisphere of the world), and I need to put this in some perspective. First of all, I will explain the statistics of the earthquake; which occurred on Tuesday January 12th, 2010. Then I’ll talk about how hard it is for them to receive help.
From what I’ve heard, approximately three million people have been affected by the earthquake, and 200,000 of those people actually died. A reason those numbers might be so high, is because the earthquake was a horrible magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale. Also the numbers might be high because the earthquake occurred at the capital which is Port-Au-Prince (the most populated area of Haiti). Amazingly, after the earthquake, there was also an unexpected amount of 33 aftershocks, most of them having the magnitude of 5 to 5.9.
People weren’t the only things that were affected. Most major landmarks were either damaged, or even destroyed, including: Presidential Palace (President René Préval survived), the national assembly building, the Port-Au-Prince cathedral, the main jail, and most hospitals! The main problem with these building’s being destroyed, is that we can’t get them back. We might be able to rebuild some of the buildings, but they will never have the history they used to. They won’t be amazing antiques anymore.
To have a real idea of what Haitians are going through, we have to imagine ourselves in their shoes. Not only did they experience a horrible earthquake, but they were one of the poorest countries in the world to begin with. The big problem with that is that they don’t have the materials or equipment to help them “heal”. Because of this, other countries are sending troupes over to help, but what ends up happening is that there is no easy access to the Haitians, and the volunteers don’t have the system to deliver necessities such as food and medicine. The reason why this is happening is because other countries aren’t allowed to go through the airport to deliver the help. You might be thinking “why can’t they just land outside of the airport?” Well, the reason why is because Haiti is such a small place, that there is no space for them to land.
To conclude, the way we can help is by delivering food and medicine, and by rebuilding their landmarks, even though they will never be the same. We need to help Haitians to rise above all of this misery and poverty. We need to help the children who are going to be the next generation of Haitians. We can’t fix the past, but we can make the future.
(Sorry, still can't make indents)
From what I’ve heard, approximately three million people have been affected by the earthquake, and 200,000 of those people actually died. A reason those numbers might be so high, is because the earthquake was a horrible magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale. Also the numbers might be high because the earthquake occurred at the capital which is Port-Au-Prince (the most populated area of Haiti). Amazingly, after the earthquake, there was also an unexpected amount of 33 aftershocks, most of them having the magnitude of 5 to 5.9.
People weren’t the only things that were affected. Most major landmarks were either damaged, or even destroyed, including: Presidential Palace (President René Préval survived), the national assembly building, the Port-Au-Prince cathedral, the main jail, and most hospitals! The main problem with these building’s being destroyed, is that we can’t get them back. We might be able to rebuild some of the buildings, but they will never have the history they used to. They won’t be amazing antiques anymore.
To have a real idea of what Haitians are going through, we have to imagine ourselves in their shoes. Not only did they experience a horrible earthquake, but they were one of the poorest countries in the world to begin with. The big problem with that is that they don’t have the materials or equipment to help them “heal”. Because of this, other countries are sending troupes over to help, but what ends up happening is that there is no easy access to the Haitians, and the volunteers don’t have the system to deliver necessities such as food and medicine. The reason why this is happening is because other countries aren’t allowed to go through the airport to deliver the help. You might be thinking “why can’t they just land outside of the airport?” Well, the reason why is because Haiti is such a small place, that there is no space for them to land.
To conclude, the way we can help is by delivering food and medicine, and by rebuilding their landmarks, even though they will never be the same. We need to help Haitians to rise above all of this misery and poverty. We need to help the children who are going to be the next generation of Haitians. We can’t fix the past, but we can make the future.
(Sorry, still can't make indents)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
“Should the movies be exact reproductions of books that they are based on?”
Most movies start from with a storyline which is told in a book or is told in a script especially written for the movie. Sometimes the movies are true and accurate reproductions of the book from which the story comes from or they are loosely based on the storyline told in the book.
Most movies are made from popular books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which in my opinion tends to butcher the book it copies, but I’ve gotten so used to that fact, it’s grown on me. It seems like it would be a very big challenge to tweak a story from a book to fit under a certain budget, or possibilities. Sometimes the storyline is too long to fit in one movie and the movie makers tend to alter the story or make a series of sequels which are becoming quite popular. I find it really nice to have movies made from a series of books. Especially when they start to get so suspenseful, wanting you to know what is going to happen next.
From the people I’ve talked to, most of them agree with me that the movie reproduction of books, tend not to be as good in quality as the books, although, there are some exceptions. The Harry Potter series was not only an amazing series as a book, but it was equally amazing as a movie series. It is also true that sometimes the movie version of a storyline becomes more interesting than the book which it is based on. There is a series of books called “A Series of Unfortunate Events;” I read the first book in that series a long time ago, and I wasn’t that big of a fan. A couple weeks after that, I saw a movie version of the book which caused me to get hooked as soon as my eyes had contact with it. I ended up going back and reading the entire series of the book.
An interesting question comes up when there is a remake of a book as a movie; “should one watch the movie first, or read the book first?” There is no right or wrong answer and people have different preferences over this. Some people get disappointed if the movie is not an exact reproduction of the book so they better see the movie first. Likewise, some might prefer not to take away the surprise element by reading the book first. My preference is to see the movie first and if interested, I will read the book. It also happens that after reading a book that I really love, I anxiously wait for the making of its movie knowing that watching it would remind me of the book that I enjoyed reading.
In conclusion, I believe that one should not expect that the movies be exact reproductions of the books and one should enjoy both forms of arts as they are.
(Sorry Indents Are Not Working)
Most movies are made from popular books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which in my opinion tends to butcher the book it copies, but I’ve gotten so used to that fact, it’s grown on me. It seems like it would be a very big challenge to tweak a story from a book to fit under a certain budget, or possibilities. Sometimes the storyline is too long to fit in one movie and the movie makers tend to alter the story or make a series of sequels which are becoming quite popular. I find it really nice to have movies made from a series of books. Especially when they start to get so suspenseful, wanting you to know what is going to happen next.
From the people I’ve talked to, most of them agree with me that the movie reproduction of books, tend not to be as good in quality as the books, although, there are some exceptions. The Harry Potter series was not only an amazing series as a book, but it was equally amazing as a movie series. It is also true that sometimes the movie version of a storyline becomes more interesting than the book which it is based on. There is a series of books called “A Series of Unfortunate Events;” I read the first book in that series a long time ago, and I wasn’t that big of a fan. A couple weeks after that, I saw a movie version of the book which caused me to get hooked as soon as my eyes had contact with it. I ended up going back and reading the entire series of the book.
An interesting question comes up when there is a remake of a book as a movie; “should one watch the movie first, or read the book first?” There is no right or wrong answer and people have different preferences over this. Some people get disappointed if the movie is not an exact reproduction of the book so they better see the movie first. Likewise, some might prefer not to take away the surprise element by reading the book first. My preference is to see the movie first and if interested, I will read the book. It also happens that after reading a book that I really love, I anxiously wait for the making of its movie knowing that watching it would remind me of the book that I enjoyed reading.
In conclusion, I believe that one should not expect that the movies be exact reproductions of the books and one should enjoy both forms of arts as they are.
(Sorry Indents Are Not Working)
Monday, January 11, 2010
What does all this mean?
What does all this mean? Well, it means that the world is overgrowing. “By 2013, a computer will surpass the capabilities of a human brain.” Amazing! It really doesn’t seem possible, because remember the old computers? Compared to today they are horrible. The first time I saw this video, I was astonished.
The world is becoming more advanced, and info such as a new computer, is like hearing that it’s time to go to bed. People email, blog, tweet, and use Facebook and MySpace a lot in our world, and we are becoming dependent on that. Wouldn’t it be extremely annoying if you just wanted to ask your friend if he is coming or not to a party by just texting, and you couldn’t? You would have to travel all the way to his house just to tell him six words? In the past, when your family told you that they are getting a television, you would go and brag to all of your friends. We have to learn that the world is spoiled. This blog is a gift; it’s how people share their opinions. Every new item the public is given is another step forward in technology. Well yes that does sound cool, but... It’s also another reason for people to expect more from the world.
At the end of the video, it talked about things such as how many babies were born during the process of the presentation, think about the amount of babies are born during the duration of you reading this post. Something I find really amazing is that I’ve heard a rumor that every 3 seconds a person dies; yet the world’s population is still growing! The population is nearing 7,000,000,000 people! That means 7 billion people asking for more perks for their life.
Throughout this whole letter, I’ve been itching to type this. The thing that bothers me the most, is that the world cares the most about receiving, not giving.
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