The Kneebone Boy

I recently read a book called the Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter.  In my opinion it was a fantastic book.  The writing was extremely well done, and her descriptions made the book come to life.  There weren't really any slow points in the book, and it held my interest very well.  I am hoping for a sequel, and I would recommend this to anyone who likes adventure books.  The book is told in the third person, by one of the Hardscrabble children, but we are never told whom (although I have a guess).  Whomever it is, however, talks to the reader as if they were speaking to them in real life.  It keeps the reader entertained and wondering what the speaker will say/do next.

The Kneebone Boy begins by introducing us to the Hardscrabble children: Otto, who doesn't talk, Lucia, who likes to argue and make points, and Max, a very intelligent boy.  They live with their father and are seen as strange to the rest of their town, Little Tunks.  When their father sends them to live with their aunt for a bit, they are amazed to discover that she isn't at home.  With nowhere to stay, the Hardscrabbles go on a journey to find their father, meet their mother, and unravel the mysteries of their family. 

Censorship

Class post!

As some of you may know, in the People's Republic of China, they have internet censorship.  For those of you who may not, censorship means blocking certain things from someone or many people.  This is what the People's Republic of China (PRC) has on their internet access.  Some websites like Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Wikipedia, and WikiLeaks are censored in the PRC.  These sites are blocked mainly because there is politically sensitive content on them.  This means that there is information or there are pictures that go against the PRC's government or say bad things about the government.  Other sites with content relating to the incident at Tiananmen Square, Taiwan's independence, pornography, and anything about democracy or the BBC.  Also, if anything bad is posted about the government (or any other content that is not approved of) on an uncensored site, it will be erased within minutes.  This censorship is applied in every city and town except for Hong Kong and Macau.  Hopefully one day these sites will become unblocked, but for now they are still censored.

The Hunger Games

I recently re-read a book called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  It is about a post-apocalyptic United States of America.  The country has been decimated by war, but Panem, made of the Capitol and 13 Districts, has risen from the ashes.  The story follows a girl named Katniss Everdeen and her life in District 12, Panem's coal mining district.  Each year the districts are forced to give tributes, one boy and one girl, to participate in the Hunger games, a competition where 24 tributes battle to the death.  Katniss step up to save her little sister, Prim, thereby making her a contestant.  How does Katniss deal with her decision?  Will she survive the Hunger Games and return home a victor?  Read the book to find out!
There are two more books in the trilogy, called Catching Fire and Mockingjay.  I highly recommend these to anyone who likes sci-fi or survival books.
Keep reading!

--Swimmer Girl

Napster vs. LimeWire vs. iTunes

Class post!
This is about LimeWire, iTunes, and Napster, and the legal issues with each.
Napster was a music-sharing service.  It allowed users to share music freely, including music that hadn't been released yet.  Metallica and Dr. Dre were some of the first to sue Napster in an effort to get Napster to stop sharing unreleased music.  Napster was shut down in 1999 after a trial that declared its sharing of music illegal because of copyrights. 
LimeWire was also a music sharing service.  It did relatively the same thing as Napster, and also got into legal issues over music sharing.  It has not been shut down, but a trial for the company is sceduled for sometime in 2011.  The company may not be totally shut down, but they may be forced to put a price on music being shared to other users.
iTunes is the softare that comes with any iPod, iTouch, and iPhone.  It also allows you to download music.  Most of the songs you have to pay for, only a very limited number are free.  iTunes is not illegal because it forces the user to pay to download music.  A portion of that money is given to the singer/songwriter as a payment for permission to use their songs on iTunes.  Some artists have not put their music on iTunes because they don't want people picking and choosing songs.  New artists are being added every day, such as the recent addition of the Beatles.
Whatever music you decide to listen to, make sure you get it legally, or you could be in some big trouble! 
--SwimmerGirl