Tuesday, September 30

What is an infographic? If you don't know, go look it up. Read about it and then in your own words tell me what an infographic is. What do infographics do? How do they work? What makes a really good infographic?

An infographic is a picture meant to represent data or statistics. In my own words, its an image or some kind of graph that helps the viewer comprehend the information, or put it into perspective. To make an infographic, you gather data, and pile it up and compare it to the other data you have found on the same subject, then a graph can be made to compare it all. A very good infographic would be labeled, easy to read and understand, while still containing a bunch of information. It would have different colors to separate the different statistics, and have an overall proffesional look to it, while having some creativity.

Image from: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/08/infographic-of-the-day-who-came-to-the-us-in-2008.html

Monday, September 9th

Tell me about your Homecoming weekend! If you didn't participate in the Homecoming festivities, what did you do? Share pics!


I didn't go to homecoming this year, or any year before because I have always thought of it as a waste of time to be completely honest. This weekend I helped my dad work on painting the house. I got up at around 9:00 a.m., and worked until 5:00 pm. It sucked. Although he was paying me for my time, I would have rather played video games - which is what I did for the rest of the weekend. Peaceful time to myself playing video games is my favorite thing to do.

Image From: http://www.mrhappyhouse.com/house-painting-contractor.html

Wednesday, September 24

Imagine Mr. Bacon has asked you to suggest one way of improving Blue Valley High School to make it a better place for students. Think about the changes that are needed at your school. Pick one change you feel would really make a difference and explain what it is and why you'd make the change.

If I could change one thing about the school to make it a better place for students, I'd change the parking lot. The narrow parking spaces and streets that you have to drive down are crazy. The parking lot is tiny, but that's not that big of a problem. The biggest problem is the fact that all of the drivers there are inexperienced and young. Add that on top of the tiny parking spaces, and you have some danger there.

Image from: http://image12.spreadshirt.com/image-server/v1/compositions/110898607/views/1,width=235,height=235,appearanceId=2/Black-OBAMA--CHANGE-HAS-COME-TO-AMERICA-T-Shirts.jpg

Tuesday, September 23rd

What are your favorite apps on your phone or tablet? Why?

By far my favorite app on my iPhone is the YouTube app. The YouTube app isn't my favorite because it's just a very quality version of YouTube, in fact, I would rather go into safari, then on YouTube. The reason this app is so fantastic is because it gets around the school wifi somehow. No longer am i held back by the walls upon walls of blocked sites. No longer will I sit and wait for the bell to ring. Entertainment has not yet been exterminated by Satan's grasp on Blue Valley's internet. The only thing I do when I finish an assignment or test in calls is go on YouTube. That's why I love the app so much.

Image From: http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/crowded-apps.jpg?w=400

Monday, September 22

What is email? When do you use email in your own personal life? List reasons and ways that people use email. What do you know about "email etiquette"?

I'm pretty sure e-mail means electronic mail, but i never use it in my own personal life. I can't even remember the last time i used any of my emails personally, besides signing up for websites. Many reason could be mentioned for using e-mail. Any professional message to a person in particular should be used in a e-mail rather than over the phone or text. This is because the next time they are on their computer, they will read it instead of their phone immediately ringing inconveniently. I dont know much about e-mail etiquette. I just assume it should be the same as writing a letter sent through the mail.

Image from: http://siliconangle.com/files/2013/05/email-logo.jpg

Friday, September 19

Now that you've been in Emerging Technology for several weeks... what do you think? Do you think the web tools (Drive, Evernote, Bubbl, etc.) are helpful to you? Do you think they will be helpful throughout high school or even college? Explain.

I like Emerging Tech. There a bunch of Freshman in the class, so our pace is really slow. Each day I don't have to get much done.The web tools are all very helpful, Drive especially. Google Drive is a must for group projects, and since I started using it last year, it has been very helpful. I can see myself using this all throughout college and maybe even later on. Bubbl is also very helpful, it lets me organize my outlines for papers very well, and its extremely user-friendly. I will probably use this program in college as well. Evernote, although isn't as helpful, is useful in its own way. I don't have to keep track of the pages I've visited, and I can see all of the information I've gathered in one place, all organized perfectly. I can see myself using this in college, but not as much as the other two.

Image from: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402397,00.asp

Wednesday, September 17

Do you enjoy writing? When do you enjoy it? What kind of writing do you enjoy? Why do you think the ability to write is so important no matter what kind of writing it is? Give an example that you enjoyed writing or hated writing. Why?

I do not enjoy writing on paper, I never have, and I know for a fact that I never will. I don't mind writing a paper electronically, as long as the topic is something interesting. The only time I've actually like writing was typing an essay in middle school over what video games I played and why, because that's the only time Iv'e written about something I like. The ability to write is so important for your education and even later on. It applies when you apply for a job, essays you have to write in college and high school, and if you don't have the skill to write a decent paper, it will affect all previous mentions.

Image from: http://wp.lps.org/kmorrow2/files/2012/06/writing.jpg

Tuesday, September 16

Reflect on this quote. Give an example of a time in your life that this might have been the case.

In other words, this quote is saying without preparation or practice, it will be much harder to be successful at whatever you didn't prepare for. In my life, This quote is a perfect example of all the tests I've ever taken in my life. If you don't study for the test, you are basically making yourself get a lower grade on it. This quote is very well thought-out and makes me think.

Friday, September 12th

What is the importance of research? Why do you need to know how to research? What have you learned in high school about researching topics and finding quality resources? Have you had a helpful teacher that has taught you to research? Explain.

Research is important because the skill to research is crucial when it comes to having a professional career or before you go into college. If someone doesn't know how to research, they can't be truly informed on a topic. In high school, we have learned how to cite sources, which sites/sources are reliable, and where to start our search on a broad topic. In college, the research process will be very important to getting a good grade in the class.All of my helpful teachers have all said the same thing: Wikipedia is unreliable. I know the truth, however. They want us to search harder to find the information because otherwise, we wouldn't have learned anything. Its all a giant conspiracy.

Image From: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/how-to-use-social-media-to-conduct-market-research/

Global Issue Selection

Image From: http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/self-inflicted-hate-crimes-videos/

For my Global Issue in Emerging Technology I have chosen Hate Crimes. I have begun researching the issue and you can find my research questions here.

Wednesday, September 10th

Kids these day are so loud and obnoxious. Always on their phones, and they never respect their elders. Parents need to control them as well. They give them too much, and always give in when they complain and want something, then wonder why their kid turned out to be a brat. Why do they need to drag their kids with them everywhere, anyways? I'm trying to eat my dinner, i don't need a kid screaming over my shoulder, and the parent doing nothing to silence them. Its like the parents are turning them into brats, and throwing them on the rest of us. Raise your kid. Back in the day, we would beat kids who talked back to us.

Tuesday, September 9th

Tell me about the global issue you selected. What do you already know about the issue? What are you looking forward to learning about it? Explain.



The global issue I selected was hate crimes. The name is pretty self-explanatory, and i know what that the majority of the targets of hate crimes are African Americans and the Homosexual community. I also know that hate crimes are dealt with less mercy to those who commit them. The punishments are greater and it's considered much worse than a regular crime. I want to know about how widespread hate crimes are, and in which countries it's the worst in. Antisemitism acts have influenced all our lives with Reat's tragic death.






Image from: http://www.campuspride.net/wp-content/uploads/STOP_THE_HATE_logo.gif

Monday, September 8th

What did you do this weekend? Share pictures if you have them!

 

This weekend I played video games the entire day. My friend introduced me to a game called League of Legends. Although its little bit childish for my taste, and the ample number of 14 year old's on the game suck at it, losing us the game 50% of the time. My favorite character in the game is a person called Yasuo. The only other thing i did was go out and get McDonald's, and watch some south park with my best friend, Tommy Payne. I wish I could say that I did something else, but that's it. Video games took up all of my weekend

Image From: http://www.riotgames.com/

Who am I?

Friday, September 5th

Playing Video Games: A
Finding Out Ways to Waste Time: A
Procrastination: A
Effort: D
Being an Athlete: B+
Having Good Grades in School: C
Getting a Good Night's Sleep: F
Eating Properly: F

Wednesday, September 3rd

Yesterday I asked your to "think differently" and push yourself to be uncommon with your PSA project using Google Slides. Why do you think I asked you to do that? What is the point? Why not just use bullets and headers? Explain.



A PSA that catches the eye and stands out will be remembered. The objective of a PSA is for people to see it, and try to change the way they live for the better. One that stands out and remembered is an effective PSA. I think you also asked us to be different is because you want to see our limits with testing Google slides. If our PSA's were boring with just bullets and headers, then we wouldn't really be using Google slides. It would be just another name for a boring power point presentation. Headers and bullets might get the information across, but will be forgotten and that PSA would have changed nothing.

Image from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-IaG3YK1P3gBMX6oFluSjGUs4Gjh0jQEosJY1zLhNVOsOrM-iVrlI7DUXugdWGoxmofuqmvClgHowhHDUZeoBbJF9AhWPch7DLh7R1s2TY-ST-SLYp_SS0rBsQhg-a8YOzNohWN7IAyP/s1600/2014-08-28%25252006.52.54.png

Texting and Driving PSA

Tuesday, September 9th

Tell me all about your Labor Day weekend. What did you do? Include photos!

Over my Labor Day Weekend, I mostly played video games with my friends online. On Sunday, I invited two of my friends to drive around going to restaurants and random people's houses. On labor day, i went over to my moms house to watch a movie, but decided not to, and i would come over later for dinner. I visited K-state to see my sister. Although this sounds very fun, almost the entire time i was miserable. 90 degree weather and you have to walk around everywhere? I wonder if I even want to go to college anymore.... While there, we went to a local sub shop, which had average food. I saw my sister's dorm, and i saw where all the college courses are located. Driving around with my friends was so fun. We love to turn the music up in the car and annoy other drivers (All while remaining safe, of course). Overall, my weekend was the kind where you say, "nothin" when asked what you did.





Image from: http://www.tynanmurphy.com/about-ty-murphy/resume/