4/10/14 My Digital Life

Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how I met technology.  Twenty-five years ago, before I was Dad, I had this whole other life.  Before your time, there were computers, but touchscreens, retina displays, and digital personal assistants were new.  Today, of course, we have exceeded vastly beyond those days of technology.  Back then, we could not imagine what would evolve, we could only guess.  We tried to come up with broad ideas of what technology would be like in the future.  There were experts, like there are today, that predicted the future with scientific ideas and what not, but they never could have conceptualized what we have now.  Our place in that future was to decide if we wanted to embark on a career in technology and hand-pick the classes in high school and college that would assist us in exceeding towards our goals.  There are many careers in technology.  Say you want to work in a S.T.E.M. career.  S.T.E.M. stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Any career that works with any one of these is considered a S.T.E.M. career.  Professions such as forensic scientists, doctors, marine biologists, biochemists, and architects are included in that range of jobs.  If you wanted to work in a S.T.E.M. career, taking, algebra, biology, information technology, and computer science in high school would be for the best.  These classes would prepare you for whatever job you ended up with.  S.T.E.M. careers require classes prior to them to teach the basics of the material.  Graphic design is one that can used for a wide variety of different careers.  It can be used for advertising, comic books, and magazines.  Digital marketing allows for a wide variety of careers as well.  Software engineering is another example.  It deals with video games and various different types of experiments, such as a television show demonstrating the calculation of wind speed on the glossy exterior of a car.  Technology has changed nearly all jobs at least a little bit.  Teachers can now automatically track attendance electronically.  Gradebook software automatically calculates grades.  Teachers use multimedia to format fun, interactive presentations and set up online discussion boards, post due dates and schedules, and email additional information to their students.  Writers get in on the fun as well bending technology to their will putting to use their incredible imaginations.  Many of the typewriters of the past have been replaced by computers and other digital devices.  Business people can communicate with others all around the world.  Now products are available worldwide.  A larger audience means more demand, therefore more mula.  As you can see, technology has made a huge impact on careers today.  So much more can be accomplished in so little time.  I am grateful for technology and I hope you are as well.  I acquired much of my information from https://buttonwood.s3.amazonaws.com/ignition/1_0_3/wrap.html?modIndex=8&activityId=22&studentId=1684386.

4/2/14 My Digital Life

Cyberbullying is serious.  You might think that it is not a big deal, but it can be drastically change peoples' lives.  Many teenagers agree that it is a problem and should be stopped in its tracks, in fact, sixty-eight percent.  It is literally hazardous for your health.  The cyberbullied feel disattached and self-conscience about themselves.  The cyberbully is either doing it because he or she feels bad about him or herself or he or she is kidding or getting back at a friend.  The victim's grades usually drop.  He or she normally feels angry, sad, or mad.  Cyberbullying lowers self-esteem and spreads like mold on rancid cheese melting on a sizzling-hot, humid summer day on newly paved asphalt.  Results do not end there.  Some victims hurt themselves or worse.  Cyberbullies do not get away with it, though.  Detention, suspension, and expulsion from school are waiting for them alongside justice.  Some states even have misdemeanor charges or felony criminal charges.  The victim normally knows the cyberbully.  Eighty-four percent of the time, he or she is a friend or acquaintance of the victim.  One out of five times, you once considered the cyberbully your best friend.  Remember that if you are cyberbullied, it is not your fault.  Nobody has the right to criticize you.  You do not want to respond to the cyberbully.  You may say something you did not mean while caught up in the moment.  Blocking the cyberbully keeps their messages from reaching you.  Though, it can help to save copies of the hateful messages as evidence for later.  Screenshots are great evidence.  If necessary, take legal action, and contact the police.  If you see somebody else being victimized by a cyberbully, step in and help.  Tell your parents what is going on and let the victim know that you are there for them.  Try not to retaliate.  It would be to no avail.  The same defenses go for this occasion.  Take screenshots as evidence to help your friend and prove the situation credible.  Facebook, tumblr, twitter, kik, and ask.fm all come with risks.  Do not post any personal information.  Social predators are on the prowl for accounts with such information.  If it still happens to you and you become a victim, the same rules apply.  Do not react immediately, tell your parents, and have evidence.  If you witness somebody else being cyberbullied, tell your parents, send an email to the website officials and block the cyberbully's account if it is possible.  Refrain from posting your feelings or emotions on social networking websites and applications.  They are invites to cyberbullying.  If you are a victim and the situation escalates quickly, delete your account.  Cyberbullying is a genuine offense and should be dealt with using the appropriate actions.  Whether you are the cyberbully or the cyberbullied, be careful.  Social predators stalk their innocent prey for eternity.

I used https://docs.google.com/a/peninsulacatholic.com/document/d/1cAwdVgj-wz5LiCYJa77bUHIvVoRB5uT1K8ty56U1BpU/edit and https://buttonwood.s3.amazonaws.com/ignition/1_0_2/wrap.html?modIndex=7&activityId=21&studentId=1684386.

3/21/14 My Digital Life

Multimedia products are a terrific way to present information in a fun and informative format.  Use all of the various types of software.  Make the presentation visually interesting and fun for the audience.  This makes the presentation entertaining and informative for the viewers.  Cite  the sources you use.  You can tell if you are illegally stealing the information or if it is fair use because fair use information is commonly used in education. Photos and videos can be copyrighted making them off limits for the public for a certain number of years. There are numerous websites that legally provide photos and videos that are free.  It is important to give credit to the creators of art that you use in a presentation.  Many of them make a profit off of that art. He or she probably does not want you to steal their work and distribute it to others for free. They can put a copyright on it locking it for only their use for a number of years.  Multimedia products are a fantastic way to teach various topics.

This video explains multimedia products, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/dida/multimedia/productsrev1.shtml.

This video, http://www.powtoon.com/p/bBDidn7vVsg/, is mine.

3/12/14 My Digital Life

In a world of thieves, credible sites that do not try to scam you can be hard to find.  Especially in the digital world of today, using and citing credible sources is imperative.  It is very important to cite the source for the person that wrote the information you are using.  Not only does this give them credit for their work, but it shows where you got the information from and if it is credible.  There are many bogus sites out there today.  Wikipedia is a wonderful website, but anybody can edit the information.  This causes it to be risky to pull information from.  Websites that were created or updated recently by an expert are the most credible sources.  Decent websites have authors and/or sponsors.  It is a good sign if the editor has a description of who he or she is, what college degrees he or she has, if any, and whatever hobbies he or she has.  This helps to guarantee his or her authentification in the subject he or she is writing about.  Check the website ending.  The most credible sources have .gov and .edu at the end of their URLs.  Credible websites do not have any bias towards one side or opinion.  Read the entire article, and check other websites to make sure there is no prejudice or error.  The website should have a professional look to it.  There should not be any misspelled words, formatting or design issues, or broken links.  Compare the information on the website to another credible website in order to check the accuracy and facts.  This is a crucial step to finding a credible source, the most important in fact.  The video found at this URL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQXe1F8LWw, is extraordinary.  It tells how to evaluate online resources.  In fact, this is where I acquired my previous information.  I cited it as one of my sources at the end of this blog.  Another source is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrGsxSpM5E&feature=youtu.be&scrlybrkrx=c197937e&scrlybrkr=5ba99451 talking about whether or not Wikipedia is a credible source.  Wikipedia is a ¨ladder¨ to finding out other information.  It is great for finding other sites that are more reliable.  Each of their pages has a list of their sources at the bottom below the article.  As Mr. Pilola once told my English 9 class, he uses Wikipedia to look up various questions he has during the day or to learn about something new for fun.  I do the same occasionally.  When I have a random question or want to look up something, I usually use Wikipedia.  It is a terrific website, but it is only the start when writing a paper.  Finding credible sources can be difficult, but when it comes to acknowledging others' hard work, it is important.

I acquired much of my information from the websites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQXe1F8LWw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrGsxSpM5E&feature=youtu.be&scrlybrkrx=c197937e&scrlybrkr=5ba99451, and Mr. Pilola.

3/6/14 My Digital Life

Viruses are pieces of code that are capable of copying themselves.  They usually have detrimental effects like corrupting the system or destroying data.  Viruses are nasty.  People should know how to protect themselves against them.  The best defense against viruses is by keeping your computer software up to date at work and as well as at home and getting anti-virus software.  This helps you recover and closes your computer's back doors preventing viruses from sneaking in.  Do not click on links, attachments, or downloadable files unless you know for certain that they are legitimate.  Another thing computer users should look out for is identity theft.  There are five simple steps to guarding yourself from identity thieves.  Keep your eyes peeled for skimmers.  Skimmers are nearly undetectable devices are commonly placed on credit card machines, ATMs, and gas pumps.  Pay in stores and recieve change at the register rather than at ATMs.  Change your usernames and passwords often.  Do not respond to phone calls, texts, or emails including personal information.  Check your online account balance and transactions frequently.  Finally the most crucial tip to protecting yourself from identity theft, obtain identity theft protection.  Recovery is a drawn out, nitpicky process without insurance coverage.  It can even take years to clear your name.  Security First identity companies identity theft coverage comes with protection for you family too.  Before jumping into a coverage company, review them all.  Different companies have various levels of coverage.  Security First Insurance Company Identity Theft Protection twenty-five dollars annually with monitoring services included.  They work all day every day to keep your identity secure.  That is a modest price for a service so valuable.  Think of what you already have standing between your private information and creepy criminals, your password.  Many of them are great at guessing passwords.  Others have computer programs that make millions of guesses until it is cracked.  It is even simpler if the criminal knows things about you.  It is not a good idea to use very simple around-the-house possessions or pets.  Your password should definitely not contain information about you.  The most effective and memorable way to make one is by coming up with an easy-to-remember phrase.  Take the first letter of each word in it.  Capitalize a few of them.  Then add some special characters of your choosing.  Be cautious if you write down the password.  Somebody could easily catch a glimpse or find it in the recycling.  Also remember to logout of sites you cruise through on foreign computers.  Random stranger passerbies could easily scroll through your personal messages.  There is an extremely educational video behind this mystical arrangement of letters and special characters.  It goes by the name of https://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_fighting_viruses_defending_the_net.  It speaks of it being twenty-five years since the very first PC virus, known as Brain A.  Mikko Hyppönen, computer security expert, tells how to stop today's new viruses in their tracks before they attack our beloved internet.  Thank you oh so very much!  Good whatever it is for you!

2/28/14 My Digital Life

Digital communication is essential in the world of today.  Of course, digital communication is the sharing of information digitally through technology.  Something with so much influence must have a substantial risk of danger.  Many people don't know that what they do on the internet can dramatically impact them.  It's on the web, right?  It's just a computer.  This isn't so.  Not only on the internet can you be in danger, but also when using digital devices in the real world.  Texting is a great example of this in action.  Though the majority of people don't text while they're driving, it's still a major issue causing numerous car crashes every year.  Many people think that it will just take a moment to respond to a text.  Though this may be true, that fact doesn't take away from the danger of doing it while driving.  When texting and driving, your brain can only focus fifty percent on each.  This does not result in doing a good job at either.  This can quickly and easily result in disaster.  The best thing to do is put your phone out of reach, turn it off, or ask someone in your family or a friend driving with you to text for you.  You are also in potential danger online.  Whatever you upload or send can never be deleted.  At least, it's so extremely unlikely that it is almost impossible to get rid of it.  People save photos, share videos, send texts, repost audio files, and reblog things all of the time.  If any of your friends or family are ever in trouble on the internet, you should talk to them about it immediately.  You should also inform an adult, preferably the victim's parents, so that they can offer any assistance they can to help fix the problem.  Let's say somebody sends an inappropriate, revealing picture to a close ¨friend¨.  The ¨friend¨ might send it to some of his or her friends who could send it to their friends.  Eventually the picture could be spread out across hundreds of people.  Everyone digitally communicating must be careful with what they send and receive on their digital devices.  Many things can very quickly get out of hand.  I found a video called A Brief History of Communication at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDkxsNmKDGk&scrlybrkr=5ba99451 that, like the name alludes to, illustrates communication from the beginning to the communication of today.  It explains how people first shared information through speech with each other.  Later they write it down, sharing the information with others.  Then a man communicates through a telephone to a person that broadcasts it on the radio.  A baby and grandmother here it over the radio.  A couple sees it on their television.  A man prints out a fax of it.  Another man sees it on his computer and calls a friend to tell him or her amidst a world full of technology where everybody is connected.  I agree with binjder, the person who posted the video, ¨Live life unmuted¨.

2/21/14 My Digital Literacy

Computers are becoming more and more important as time goes on.  All computers are made up of three parts.  There is the hard drive, RAM, and the processor.  The hard drive stores all the things you need for later.  RAM, or random access memory, makes some information quick and easy to access.  The processor is always completing tasks and making things work together.  In the past, computers were solitary workers that worked alone in homes and businesses.  Though in today's modern world, the internet allows us to use our computers in the cloud.  Cloud computing secures and backs up your information at other locations.  It enables your work to be accessible through the web.  The cloud companies have nearly unlimited storage and resources so that the user can continue to add to it without worry.  The information is backed up at numerous locations promising protection.  The user only pays for what they use.  The user can also use new kinds of services that live in the cloud that are available on the web.  Email, word processing, and photo sharing can all be used in the cloud.  Cloud computing is efficient for businesses as well as people like you and me.  stored in the cloud, are always backed up, and accessible from any internet connection.  I think that computers will improve at an extremely fast rate.  Think of how long it took for Apple and Microsoft to become what they are today.  Apple was established on April 1, 1976.  Microsoft was established on April 4, 1975.  In about thirty-nine years, computers have evolved from the Altair 8800 in 1975 to the 2014 iMac.  I think that in the next five years, more computers will have slightly curved screens.  Game systems will be faster and be able to hold more information.  I think that in the next ten years, computers will be able to run much faster, charge much faster, and hold more information.  In the next fifteen years, I think that computers will be even smoother, thinner, durable, faster, lighter, and be much more versatile performing tasks nearly unimaginable today.  Just like last week, I found a wonderful TED Talks video that explains cloud computing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOb0rKrt7A.  A long, long time ago, people could only share information through speaking and drawing.  The only way to share that knowledge was by showing or telling somebody in person. Eventually writing came about making information more easily accessible.  When computers were created, it made information from around the world accessible from your lap or table.  Though this is all nice and good, the information is still somewhat trapped.  Cloud computing bundles up a whole bunch of information and makes it instantly available in software service packages.  As Juan De Fuca said in his TED Talk, cloud computing is ¨a canvas for using and sharing knowledge that was previously unavailable¨.  Computers have come a long way in the past thirty-nine years, and cloud computing makes information all the more abundant and accessible. o:-)

2/12/14 My Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is the ability to use technology to navigate, evaluate, and create information.  It touches almost everyone in the world today.  Though digital literacy is very beneficial, it started off very quickly causing many to fall behind.  Most fields require its workers to be some what digitally literate.  Technology is also important when communicating with family and friends.  Digital literacy is helpful in daily life for personal enjoyment and managing events with others.  I want to learn how to use electronics more effectively, efficiently, and safely.  I would like to easily choose and know how to use the best format available when wanting to record information digitally.  Digital literacy is a very important skill set.  In today's world, it would be quite difficult to live without having at least some digital literacy.  So much revolves around it, and more and more is becoming that way as time goes on.  There are digital natives and immigrants.  A digital native is someone born into the digital age.  This does not mean that he or she is automatically digitally literate.  They still have to learn everything in order to become a digital citizen, or a person who utilizes information technology aiding them in engaging in politics and society.  Somebody that adopts technology later in life is a digital immigrant.  Digital natives are hindered in their education due to the fact that teachers today are almost all digital immigrants.  Studies show that technology has changed the way students process, read, and perceive information.  Luckily at Peninsula Catholic, we all use Google Chrome for much of our academic work.  This helps us to gradually grow our digital literacy as we progress through our classes.  This blog that you are reading right now is a product of this progressive learning environment.  Digital literacy has proved most successful in producing successful, lucrative economies in countries around the world.  I found a Ted Talks on digital literacy at the website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78&scrlybrkr=e1737340.  I like how in this video, Doug Beshar compares it with learning to play a musical instrument.  It takes a while for gestures to get engrained.  It takes practice.  He also mentions memes.  They are ideas, behaviours, or styles that spread in a culture.  They have been around for more than one hundred years.  There is a picture from 1905 of a cat in a dress sitting in a chair with text below that reads, ¨What's delaying my dinner.¨  His point is that when people have ideas, they use tools to communicate it.  In the digital world of today, it is much easier to communicate information.  Mr. Belshar says that there are eight essential elements of digital literacies.  They are the cognitive, constructive, communicative, civic, critical, creative, confident, and cultural with the remix at the center.  Real digital citizens utilize these elements to communicate their remix on information they want to share.  Digital literacy is very important.  I am looking forward to learning how to be more digitally literate in my life.

12/12/13 Current Event

Riskalyze is a new company that helps to calculate how much volatility investors are willing to risk.  It uses a web-based questionanaire to find how much people are willing to invest in stocks and what kind of losses may incourage them.  This tool guages the risk the investor is willing to take by asking up to twelve questions.  The investor recieves a score from one to niety-nine.  One means that you should avoid all risk and ninety-nine meaning you have a strong willingness to invest in risky things as long there is a chance of large gains.  Various scenarios can also be tested by Riskalyze.  It has been a real success with companies helping their clients to decide on where to invest their money.  We have been learning about different ways to invest your money recently in class.  I think Riskalyze sounds like a great tool.  It informs people how secure their money needs to be depending on their circumstances.

The informative information in this blog was obtained from myself and the site of http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/12/investing/riskalyze-market-volatility/.

Hey!  By the way, a man is found dead on a Sunday morning. His wife calls the police immediately. The police question the wife and staff. The wife said she was asleep, the cook said he was cooking breakfast, the gardener said she was picking vegetables, the butler said he was cleaning the closet, and the maid said she was getting the post. The police immediately arrested the murderer.

Who was the murderer?

12/3/13 Current Event

Nigeria is now the largest economy in Africa.  It is home to one-fourth of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa and has a booming economy.  South Africa has a good economy, but Nigeria's is more open to newinvestment and has a population that is four times larger.  President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is improving their economic state now.  His re-election is expected to be held in the first quarter of 2015 but could be as soon as December of this year.  Though Nigeria's economy is doing well, it still has a lack of consistent power resources.  If Nigeria's economy fails, so does the economy of West Africa.  They are in charge of West Africa's success.  One of the major investers in Nigeria's economy is South Africa.  South African banks and businessesa are both partners and competitors.  Increased business between the two countries will hopefully imrove their cooperation together.  I am glad to read that South Africa and Nigeria compete to improve their economies.  Recently, every one in our class did a project on a specific Sub-Saharan African country.  Afterwards we voted on which would be the best to which we should contribute.  It is good that Nigeria is prospering.  This will benefit the entire region of West Africa and improve their standard of living.

Almost all of this exquisite information was obtained from my huge brain, but to  be honest, really all of the facts came from the website of http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/12/03/what-nigeria-becoming-africas-biggest-economy-really-means?scrlybrkr=ad539e27.

By the way.  Why should you never marry a tennis player?

11/21/13 Current Event

Have you heard about the new hundred-dollar bill?  It is new and improved with added security features.  The security thread to the left of Benjamin Franklin's head has the letters USA and 100 on it that can be seen when held to the light.  A 3-D security ribbon above Benjamin Franklin's left shoulder has a the Liberty Bell that changes to 100s when tilted back and forth and up and down when tilted from side to side.The Liberty Bell is also in the inkwell and changes from copper to green when tilted.  The quill used to sign the Declaration of Independence and phrases from it are present on the right side of the bill.  The engraving process includes the effects of raised printing for the first time giving it a unique texture.  Theis new bill will increase the difficulty for counterfitters to reproduce the bill.  We watched a video in class this week on how money is made.  The new hundred dollar bill is upping the ante for security standards.

All of the terrific information put forward in this fantastic blog were mined from the miraculous dark depths of my genius and the website http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/07/100-dollar-bill/2936097/?scrlybrkr=3af3eced.

By the way, try to figure out this cynical conundrum.
Three guests check into a hotel room. The clerk says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later the clerk realizes the bill should only be $25. To rectify this, he gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room, the bellhop realizes that he cannot divide the money equally. As the guests didn't know the total of the revised bill, the bellhop decides to just give each guest $1 and keep $2 for himself. Each guest got $1 back: so now each guest only paid $9; bringing the total paid to $27. The bellhop has $2. And $27 + $2 = $29 so, if the guests originally handed over $30, what happened to the remaining $1?

This radical riddle is from my marvelous memory and the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_dollar_riddle?scrlybrkr=9c7f19b6.

11/6/13 Current Event

This week we have taken notes on measuring economic activity with G.D.P. and business cycles with its four stages and what caused the Great Depression.  G.D.P. stands for gross domestic product.  It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a given period.  A good or service must be a final good, be produced during the time period, and be produced within a nation's borders.       Read this blog.                          I think you'll like it.                                              We figure the G.D.P. because it is an indicator of how well the economy is doing. The business cycle is always rising or declining on its way to the other. We go through times of prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery. Today we are thought to be going into a stage of recovery. The Great Depression was, as the name tells, a depression. Caused by farmers going into debt from buying mechanical utilities for farming and America's weak banking system, it was a time of worldwide economic depression from October 29, 1929 to 1933.

By the way, the cross country states meet is this Friday.  The entire team would love to be safe and win.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Have fun watching the Shark Tank episode or whatever you do.

Why do melons always have big weddings?                                                

I obtained all of the information on this page from my brain and my notes from Ms. Weser's economics class.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

10/29/13 Current Event

Phonebloks is a company that wants to create a phone that all of the different functions are on separate blocks.  Motorola partnered with them earlier this month to create a phone with interchangeable parts.  Project Ara has been quietly tinkered on for over a year by the ATAP team of Motorola.  Motorola is not funding Phonebloks though.  They still rely on donationns to hire developers and rent servers so that it can up a web forum that people can up-vote proposals and feedback on Project Ara.  David Hakken, Dutch designer of Phonebloks, says that he would partner with other manufacturers in concert in what is essentially an open source effort.  I like the idea of a customizable phone.  I, personally, love Apple and want them to continue to improve, innovate and compete with other companies.  Phonebloks would be a great incentive for Apple to innovate, improveand lower the price of their products along with the other popular manufacturers.  This might not be the best thing for Apple and it's competitors, but it is fantastic for consumers.

The ideas and thoughts expressed in this article came from my mind and http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/10/29/motorola-partners-with-viral-sensation-phonebloks-to-launch-a-modular-smartphone/.

10/17/13 Current Event

India has been hoping that abundant monsoon rains would cause higher food prices for months.  Inadequate infrastructure and populist election spending have offset the monsoon bonus.  Much of India's farmland is irrigated by the monsoon rains that normally come between June and September.  There should be more productive fields in most of the country because the rains have continued into October this year.  More production means more supply which should cause lower prices.  That chance is looking continually slimmer because even if the harvest is successful, the products become stuck on potholed roads and in the inefficient storage and distribution systems of India.  General election also offsets the monsoon bonus.  India governments usually spend more on social programs ahead of elections.  Political parties spend money organizing rallies to attract voters.  India's inflation continues to increases, and even miraculous rains might not defeat it.  I think that it is awful that no matter how great their harvest is and no matter how much monsoon rains they have, India continues to plumit into inflation.  Increased products should mean more supply.  That shoud lower prices, but India must improve their infrastructure and populist elections before inflation can decrease.

I wrote this current event using information from my brain and the site http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/10/16/india-is-still-waiting-for-its-monsoon-bonus/.

10/10/13 Current Event

John Foraker, CEO of Annie's Natural Foods, says that he lives in paranoia of competitors such as Kraft Foods and Back to Nature Foods, getting ahead.  Business has continued to rise over the pst five years.  The company constantly has to be improve and move forward in order to stay ahead of the game.  Annie's was created by Annie Withey and her husband, Andrew Martin, in 1989 after they sold Smartfood, a white cheddar popcorn to Frito-Lay for around fifteen million dollars.  Their organic products are a healthy alternative to junk food.  Annie's, Kraft, and Back to Nature Foods are all substitute goods.  Each produces similar products.  The main difference is that Annie's is all organic.  Its meals, snacks, and dressings claim zero artificail flavors, preservatives, or GMO products.  Annie's sells products with elastic demand.  They have many substitutes making their price change frequently.  Some people may not buy Annie's products because of the higher price caused by it being organic.  The factor of income would be in play in that situation.  I, myself, love many of their products.  Their Cheddar Bunnies are really good.  I can hardly tell them apart from Goldfish.  Annie's Natural Foods is a fantastic organic company.  You should check it out.  You didn't know it then.  You know it now.  That's an Econ phenomenon.

All of the information in this wonderful article can be accessed from my mind and the website http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/10/09/homegrown-success-mild-indigestion-annies-natural-foods/.                                         

10/2/13 Current Event

Most people think that we should look others in the eye when wanting to make a point.  Julai Minson, a psychologistand assisted professor at Havard's Kennedy School of Government, studies group decision making and negotiations.  She and her longtime collaborator Frances Chen, a physocologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, realized that no one had studied that staring at someone will make the person more likely to see your point.  Most of the academic work has focused on what Minson calls "lovey-dovey contexts."  This is what mothers and their babies enhance their connection.  Recent studies, people respond more favorably to opposing arguments when the speaker looks at an angle to the recipient or focuses his eyes on his counterpart's mouth rather than eyes.  Dogs control others by staring them down and then attacking.  When somebody disagrees with you and they look you in the eye for a long time, it gives you the feeling of someone trying to dominate you.  Direct eye contact makes people less likely to change their minds.  Bosses, salesmen, and polititions all use a direct gaze when trying to convince an audience of many or one that their position is the most valid.  People, such as bosses, salesmen, and politicians should all look at an angle or at their opponent or customer more open to persuasion.  People in the businesses station of the Circular Flow Model should no longer use direct eye-contact.  It might affect the response of their opponents and customers.  

I aquired all of this information from my luxurious brain and the website of http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/02/the-power-of-eye-contact-its-a-myth/.   

9/25/13 Current Event

In the future, commuters may not have to pay tolls.  People in Indianapolis can use an app called ParkMoblie.  It remembers a driver's space number, alerts them when their time is up, and allows them to add more time and pay the fee directly from their smartphone.  HOT lanes, or High Occupancy Toll lanes, help reduce highway congestian.  They replace old HOV lanes allowing commuters to maintain a minimum average speed.  It adjusts the cost to fdrive in that lane accordingly.  Marlyland residents are reducing travel time by opening the state's first all-electronic toll (AET) road, the Intercounty Connector (ICC).  The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) is in the process of implimenting contactless payment methods.  They will allow riders to tap their bank card or wave their smartphone to board trains and busses.  Tap-on tap-off cards are being offered on Florida's Southern Rail.  New technology will greatly improve people's commute.

I obtained most of this information from the lovely website of http://www.forbes.com/sites/xerox/2013/09/25/5-ways-technology-will-improve-your-commute/. 

9/18/13 Current Event

Hello my friends.  I would like to speak of the newly released iOS 7 of Apple.  iOS 7 has a whole new color scheme.  The new design has bright, saturated colors, and the app icons are flat.  Now the iPhone has multi-page folders that can hold an infinite amount of games and apps depending on the number of gigabytes.  Now there are blurred shapes throughout the design.  This gives users more of a variety for how they want to personalize their iPhone.  A sense of depth is given to the home screen by moving your wallpaper based on the tilt and angle of the device using the motion sensors.  This exceptionable new feature is, though, able to be disabled.  Control Center is a new dropdown interface that that enables you to adjust many of the most critical features.  Siri can now draw information from Wikipedia, display the most recent tweets from a specific account, and can survey nearby restaurants much more specifically.  The new improved Siri can detect inquiries faster and more accurately.  A double tap of the home button pulls up  a redesigned app switching view.  iOS 7 can airdrop, or wirelessly share a file with any nearby user.  iOS 7 is iTunes Radio capable.  The new camera can take slow-motion video, burst photography, and square photos.  iOS 7 is available for iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPod Touch (fifth generation), and above, though it is slow on iPhone 4's.  iOS 7 is free and magnificient.  iOS 7 is a new operating system for many newer Apple products.  It is one of the products included in the Product Market in the Circular Flow Model.  People in households Apple products with the cool, new features of iOS 7 and contribute to the Circular Flow Model.  You're still here?  It's over.  Go home.  Go.

I have obtained all of this wonderful information from my brain in my head and http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/18/apple-ios-7-review?scrlybrkr=13e16bff.   

9/12/13 Current Event

This week, we have discussed market economies, Karl Marks, and Adam Smith.  We paired up in groups and researched the two philosophers.  Afterewards, we wrote a dialogue of Karl Marx and Adam Smith having a potluck in Weserville to discuss their individual views on what kind of economy is the best and why.  The next day, all of the groups presented as everybody had a real potluck.  The activity helped us to step into the beards of the two men.  I would like to focus on Karl Marx and Adam Smith.  Karl Marx had a very strong opinion that an economy would run more smoothly if it was a command economy.  The people would be provided homes, food, and many other essentials.  Nobody would be homeless.  Everybody would have a job.  Adam Smith saw it differently.  He thought that if everyone worked for themselves, everyone including the state would be better off.  Julia and I had two endings.  In the first, Mr. Marx and Mr. Smith agreed on crating a primarily market economy with some command economy run parts included.  They called it America.  The alternate ending was not as promising.  Adam Smith did not want that economy.  He wanted a complete market economy.  Karl Marx and Adam Smith settled it like men, arm-wrestling.  Karl Marx won because of growing up in the working class, and a command economy rules to this day.  I really enjoyed presenting Julia and my dialogue.  This week has been pretty fun.  o:-)      

9/4/13 Current Event

This week we talked about the three different types of economies.  There are Traditional, Command, and Market Economies.  Out of the three, I would like to elaborate on Command Economies.  Born of Karl Marx's ideas, Command Economies function with the government as the leader.  The government supervises allocation of resources to the factories through central planning.  The advantages of such an economy are that funds and time are allocated for advertising, and marketing can be used for other purposes.  Socialism and Communism are two types of Command Economies.  I understand why a nation that has been starving or in need would jump at an economy that provides them with everything, but overall it is not good for them.  There is little entrepreneurship because everything is provided.  For the same reason, the quality of goods is lower.  There is hardly any motivation to use resources wisely because there is no private property.  In class we have discussed what economy we think would be best for Weserville.  I believe that a Command Economy would be a poor choice for Weserville because the residents would almost surely take advantge of being provided for.  That is all for this weekly evaluation.  Live long and prosper.