Table Salt turned Awesome

An international group of scientists found a way to turn ordinary table salt into what are called "forbidden compounds". They gave them this name because under the laws of chemistry, it is not possible to create them. The way the research team accomplished this was by applying high amounts of pressure to the compounds. These compounds are also thought to be able to be found in the cores of early planets and even at the cores of planets today. Unfortunately, once pressure returns to normal the compounds revert back to normal.

The main thing that this really connects with is that it proves the saying anything is possible. In school and in the workplace everyone is always wanting people to strive to be creative and to go beyond what is possible. In school teachers always say, "Never rest till your good is you better and your better is your best". This experiment proves that nothing is set in stone if you push yourself to discover something new.

I honestly think this will have a huge impact on the world, and I fully support this article.  I think scientist will use this knowledge and eventually find ways to stabilize the compounds, and they may replace some of the things we use today. For example, Na3Cl( one of the compounds they made) is actually a metal that conducts electricity. For all we know we may have the wiring in our homes replaced with this stuff.

The author of this passage takes a pretty neutral standpoint. This effects the text by making it sounds more like a scientific report rather than an article in a magazine. One example of negative words can be found when Kracht states, "In addition to NaCl3, the team has predicted other new "crazy" compounds, such as NaCl7, Na3Cl2, Na2Cl, and Na3Cl". Nothing in this passage really radiates negativity or positivity. Another example is when Kracht states,"Their research opens up the way to successfully create and stabilize a huge number of compounds previously considered to be forbidden." In both of these examples(and pretty much the whole article), Kratcht just states facts regarding the research and says how It is going to further us.

Get ready to update those chemistry textbooks.

MLA citations
Kracht, David. "salt or sugar ...". Flickr. Yahoo, 30 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
             <http://www.flickr.com/photos/57761648@N02/11193610766>
Sandhana, Lakshmi. "Scientists turn table salt into forbidden compounds that violate textbook rules".
            gizmag. Gizmag, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
            <http://www.gizmag.com/scientists-create-forbidden-compounds-table-salt/30520/>

The Parachute Burrito Delivery Service

1. Topic: Burrito delivery service

2. Article Title: Burrito Bomber UAV delivers edible payload.

3. Article Source: gizmag.com

4. Summary: People at Darwin Aerospace made a UAV that delivers burritos. It uses a web app that allows them to pinpoint the recipient's location. It also has a parachute on the canister to make sure it doesn’t explode on contact.

5. Reactions: I think it’s really cool.It also looks like it took a while to make such a complex delivery service. This is definitely an amazing innovation, and it will definitely change a few things. It may even change the way we get delivery service. Also, it may change how we order things(They used a web app to allow them to place their order).

6. World Impact: I definitely think that this will have some major impact on the world. It may even change the way we get packages, food, and mail.It also could spur some inventions from related subjects like automated flying, or web apps.Things like that have happened in the past. But then again we never really know what the future has in store for our world. For all we know a day may come where thousands of parachute burritos rain from the sky daily.

Sun/moon watch

1. Topic:

 A watch company is using a old concept in a new way. 

2. Article Title:

Sun and Moon Watch tells time with movement of celestial bodies

3. Article Source:

found at Gizmag

4. Summary:
A new type of watch is coming out. It uses visual representations of things that we associate day and night with to tell time. The way it does this is the face moves in a circular pattern, and makes the sun/moon look like they are rising and setting.

5. Reaction: I think it's really neat. It takes some old ideas that you have to watch the position of the sun or moon to tell time, and makes it into a visual representation of that concept that you can carry around on your wrist. I also think that they will sell like hotcakes. The reason being is there are only 100 of them, and the cost  is right under $200. This means that collectors will defiantly want them.

6. World Impact: The impact is not very tremendous. The reason being is it's just a watch. Now if it was a new theory of the universe, it would then have huge impact. The only thing I can think of is it is a limited addition, so later on they may be worth some money. Now by latter on I mean a few hundred years, so if you want to invest some money for your great, great, great, grand kids go right on ahead. All in all though it is a neat design, and personally I would love to have one. 

Weekly review #10

Okay this week was pretty short in Intro to Publications. The reason being is we spent most of our classes working on our e-portfolios. I will link mine here. This week we  only did terms and a few little activities on scams. So as you can probably tell this blog will be incredibly short. Our terms for this week just like every other week correspond with what we are learning. They are as follows: Scam, Identity theft, Vulnerable, and Phishing.

So as always I will start with defining our terms this week.

Scam-An attempt to trick someone, usually with the intention of stealing money or private information. People who do this are, but are not limited to, the creepy hobo down the street who is actually rich off handouts so doesn't really need money, hackers, and people who send you e-mail with viruses attached and steal your information.

Identity theft- A type of crime in which your private information is stolen and used for criminal activity. 95% of the time this is what happens after people scam you. It can lead to bills for loans, car payments on vehicles you don't own, and lifelong debt.

Vulnerable- In a position that makes it easier for you to be harmed or attacked. If you don't have any type of spyware/malware, then get it, until you do then you are vulnerable.

Phishing- When people send you phony emails, pop-up messages, social media messages, texts, calls, or links to fake websites in order to hook you into giving out your personal and financial information. This is what hackers do once they have your information(obviously they won't have all of it or else they wouldn't be asking for your information.)

                                               two people fishing, found here,3/18/09
All of these things are involved when people are trying to steal your information to buy other things, and not have to worry about the bills.

We also learned some pretty creative ways to spot fake emails. I will list three below.

• If it has a sense of urgency.
• If it says your account is in trouble.
• If it is just too good to be true.

If an email has just one of these things just ignore it, or if you are worried that they will shut down your account then call customer support and ask them to verify the information.

To help us spot fake emails we played a cool little game here, but because I'm nice I will embed it below.




So that's all for this week come back next week for yet another riveting tale of what we do every week.

The micro Dragonfly

1. Topic:  A new micro toy has come out and has the same wing design as a dragonfly.

2. Article Title:TechJect’s Dragonfly micro UAV flies like a bird and hovers like an insect

3. Article Source:
Gizmag

4. Summary
This new toy is a compact version of a dragon fly. It comes in five different models, each one is designed to suite different needs. For example the Gamma model is more versatile

5. Reaction:
I think it's a neat little toy. I also like how in each model you are allowed to chose which color you would like. The colors are blue, green, yellow, orange, red, black, white and silver. In the long run though, while these new little toys look like a lot of fun, for the steep price of $250 I don't think I'll be buying it. Now having said that if you have that kind of money I would most definitely do it. The reason for this is the toys have a lot of more advanced components than regular little plastic flying toys you can pick up in the market. 

6.World impact:
I think that this will effect the world in just a couple ways. First off I think it will go world wide and will be available to every retailer across the globe. Secondly, I think that this will spur a new breed of toys that are modeled after flying insects. The reason for this is because most flying insects that have not been turned into little flying replicas of themselves, would make neat little toys. Wouldn't you like to take your remote control fly out for a spin and spy on the wildlife in your backyard? Other than tat though I don't think this toy will do much more than that.

Weekly review #9

This week we went delved deeply into the bottomless abyss that is Internet companies, and what they do to track your information. To achieve this we first had to learn some new words, and they are as follows: Track, Target, Demographic, and Cookies. After we learned these words we then had to proceed to learn about why companies track your information, and what their goal is in doing so. Later, after having learned all these words/terms, we were asked to create a mixbook using our new web 2.0, and guess what its called, Mixbook . Then, we made a list of positive and possibly harmful effects of companies monitoring your Internet habits.   Finally, I did yet another super amazing article on yet another piece of technology that may just surprise you at its inventiveness. I will link it here, and I will link the original article here.

Now, as usual, I will start with defining our vocabulary/terms for the week.

• Track- When companies collect information about you based on your online behavior. Can we say stalkers.
• Target( no not the store)- When companies tailor content to you based on the information they have collected about you. This can be a positive or a negative thing. 
• Demographic- Common categories of the population, such as age, gender, and race. The way they get this information is by the little survey websites give you that you have to fill out to get access. This survey includes age, birthday, race, etc.
• Cookies( No not the little sugar filled things that taste awesome.)- Information that is stored on your computer from websites you visit. These cookies store themselves into your computer, and help companies like Amazon to personalize your searches. This also allows the companies to hide some things from you.

Next we had to think about why companies want to track you, give you cookies, and track you. We came up with three reasons why.

1. To make money
2. To give you more links/ads that you will be more inclined to click on.
3. Also companies like Google track you, and make your Internet searches come up as stuff you have searched in the past. An example would be if a person is constantly looking up game sites, then when he looks up something school related, he gets game sites instead.  

 Then, after learning all these terms, and thinking about all those reasons,  We were asked to create a mixbook using all the information we have learned. Mixbook is this cool little site that allows you to create pamphlets, cards, and other things. The thing I like about this new web 2.0 is all the different layouts to choose from. These layouts include text and pictures, text, and just pictures. Not only that but it can also place the text in different locations. This includes turned, normal, etc.

A thing I don't like is, when your creating one, you  have to make it with the pages lined up 1 on each side. It goes page, line ,page. Kinda like a little book, so you can't end in an even number of pages. It has to be odd.

Here is my mixbook.

| Start your own Photo Books | Create custom Christmas Cards

Then, we were asked to make a list of why companies tracking you could be bad or good.

Bad

• They have your information
• They pick and choose what you get to see when you search things.
• Also, with some ads, there is a chance that you can pick up a virus.

Good

• Allows companies like Amazon to recommend items for you to buy.
• Search engines can bring up more websites that you might want to visit.
• It can also save time when you are searching for a specific website over, and over again.

Finally I did an article about a programmer who turned a pumpkin into a playable game of Tetris. This pumpkin( complete with a joystick stem) had some difficulties with wiring. The reason is, if you have ever carved a pumpkin then you know how moist it is on the inside. So being that water and electricity don't really mix then his wires start to short.

That's all for this week come back next Friday and I will have yet another installment of Paysuer weekly blog.

Tetris-O-Lantern

1. Topic:
A programer turned his pumpkin into a playable Tetris game.

2. Article Title:
Pumpkin carved into a playable Tetris-O-Lantern

3. Article Source:  
Gizmag

4. Summary:
A programer took a pumpkin, some led lights, and creativity, and managed to turn a pumpkin into a playable game of Tetris that even keeps your score. It plays just like regular Tetris, and even has a joystick( the pumpkin stem.) The only complication is the occasional short in the wiring. Really this should be expected considering all the moisture inside the pumpkin.

5. Reaction:
I think that the whole concept is awesome. Personally, if I knew how, I would make my own pumpkin/Tetris game. While having said that I also think that it will have some complications. The first one is how to keep the wiring dry. I guess he hasen't figured that out if he is still having shorts. All and all I think that the kids this Halloween are going to stop by his house not just for the candy, but also to check out this marvelous, ingenuitive new design.

6. World Impact:
Truthfully It's not having that much of an impact world wide. The biggest thing I can think of is maybe he has started a new programming trend. Plus I think maybe his program may go world wide for all the other programers who want Tetris games in their pumpkins(he had to recreate it since none of the programs were compatible with his homemade led light board.) Also, having said that, I think that it's incredibly cool how he came about making the Tetris-O-Lantern. Now having said that I don't think it will go completely  world wide I think it may end up in his neighborhood. The reason I think this is because I think everyone on the block will want one, and will probably commission several Tetris-O-Lanterns.