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
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Hacking
Hi everyone! This post is about hacking.
Hacking is, by definition, breaking into a computer or a website by gaining administrative control. This means logging into a computer or a webpage or controlling its movements without permission from the user. An experienced hacker can steal information from a computer without anyone even knowing they were there. Hacking affects a web designer because their pages are always in danger of being hacked. A page can be accessed by a hacker and from there can be changed in any way that person desires, because they have total control. It affects the user because their computer could be being watched or tracked to see what websites they go to, who they are in contact with, etc. Also, if a computer is hacked and the owner doesn't know, the hacker can do serious damage to the system. When the owner finds out, it could be too late. Hacking is not always a bad thing. Some people work as hackers for a living. They track suspected criminals' habits on a computer to see what they have been up to. Or if a website seems to be good on the surface but is actually bad underneath, they can track it or break into it to get rid of it. Hacking is seen as bad in today's society, but people just don't know the good side.
Hacking is, by definition, breaking into a computer or a website by gaining administrative control. This means logging into a computer or a webpage or controlling its movements without permission from the user. An experienced hacker can steal information from a computer without anyone even knowing they were there. Hacking affects a web designer because their pages are always in danger of being hacked. A page can be accessed by a hacker and from there can be changed in any way that person desires, because they have total control. It affects the user because their computer could be being watched or tracked to see what websites they go to, who they are in contact with, etc. Also, if a computer is hacked and the owner doesn't know, the hacker can do serious damage to the system. When the owner finds out, it could be too late. Hacking is not always a bad thing. Some people work as hackers for a living. They track suspected criminals' habits on a computer to see what they have been up to. Or if a website seems to be good on the surface but is actually bad underneath, they can track it or break into it to get rid of it. Hacking is seen as bad in today's society, but people just don't know the good side.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Second Review!
So much for posting last week...
This should make up for it though. Although I'm currently in class, my instructor said that this blog post would be a free post. So, here is my second book review!
The most recent book I read was called Firelight by Spohie Jordan. It was about a girl named Jacinda. She is a draki, a descendant of dragons. She (and the rest of her tribe) have a valuable secret: they can turn into humans if they so desire. However, there are men who hunt the draki for their skin. Jacinda's mother decides to leave the pride after Jacinda almost gets caught by hunters. She takes her and her sister, Tamra, to a dry town near the desert. Jacinda struggles to fit into her new life, while still wanting to return to the tribe in the mountains. She meets a boy named Will who shows interest in her. However, she also learns that Will is a hunter. I won't spoil the ending, but I will tell you it is very dramatic. There are mroe books planned in the series, but no titles have been released as of right now.
Keep reading!\
--Swimmer Girl
This should make up for it though. Although I'm currently in class, my instructor said that this blog post would be a free post. So, here is my second book review!
The most recent book I read was called Firelight by Spohie Jordan. It was about a girl named Jacinda. She is a draki, a descendant of dragons. She (and the rest of her tribe) have a valuable secret: they can turn into humans if they so desire. However, there are men who hunt the draki for their skin. Jacinda's mother decides to leave the pride after Jacinda almost gets caught by hunters. She takes her and her sister, Tamra, to a dry town near the desert. Jacinda struggles to fit into her new life, while still wanting to return to the tribe in the mountains. She meets a boy named Will who shows interest in her. However, she also learns that Will is a hunter. I won't spoil the ending, but I will tell you it is very dramatic. There are mroe books planned in the series, but no titles have been released as of right now.
Keep reading!\
--Swimmer Girl
Friday, December 10, 2010
Apple vs. Windows
Here's another class post!
This one is Apple vs. Windows. I prefer Windows personally. It's what I grew up using, and what I currently have right now (Windows 7). Whenever I go on a Mac it's very strange. The window adjusting buttons (the close button, the minimize button, etc.) are on different sides, and it's really weird to have the navbar at the bottom of Macs. They are both good, however. They both have easy-to-use navigation and programs to write documents, make slideshows, and more. Also, they both have sleek concepts and attractive designs.
There are also many differences between the two operating systems. Windows can be very buggy at times, and is sometimes tough to program (the Blue Screen of Death is a great example!) Windows is also prone to many viruses, and if your computer isn't properly protected, there can be dire consequences. Believe it or not, there are some bad things about Apple. For one thing, many people who have Macs complain that they are not good for gaming purposes. Also, Macs can be incredibly pricey. Some users have even noted that when they bought one Mac, they wanted to buy more, but the prices are very high.
Whichever system you choose, they both have their own strengths and faults, so don't be fooled!
This one is Apple vs. Windows. I prefer Windows personally. It's what I grew up using, and what I currently have right now (Windows 7). Whenever I go on a Mac it's very strange. The window adjusting buttons (the close button, the minimize button, etc.) are on different sides, and it's really weird to have the navbar at the bottom of Macs. They are both good, however. They both have easy-to-use navigation and programs to write documents, make slideshows, and more. Also, they both have sleek concepts and attractive designs.
There are also many differences between the two operating systems. Windows can be very buggy at times, and is sometimes tough to program (the Blue Screen of Death is a great example!) Windows is also prone to many viruses, and if your computer isn't properly protected, there can be dire consequences. Believe it or not, there are some bad things about Apple. For one thing, many people who have Macs complain that they are not good for gaming purposes. Also, Macs can be incredibly pricey. Some users have even noted that when they bought one Mac, they wanted to buy more, but the prices are very high.
Whichever system you choose, they both have their own strengths and faults, so don't be fooled!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
New Tech
Hi everyone, here's another class post. (I'll try to put up a book review post sometime this week!)
The most innovative and newest piece of technology is the new spaceplane launched by the military. It was an unmanned space vehicle, slightly less than 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. That's smaller than the space shuttle. It went up into space for a total of seven months and came back to Earth this month. Nobody knew about the spaceplane because it was a classified operation, but someone leaked it to the public.
With this new technology, there is so much we can do in space. Besides sending humans to do work, we could now put robots in or on this spaceplane and use them to do work for us. It is not known exactly what the spaceplane is supposed to do yet, but it could be used for many things. We could send it to explore distant planets, or planets that humans cannot explore. We could also use it for faster transportation through space. With so much new technology, there is no limit to what we cannot do.
The most innovative and newest piece of technology is the new spaceplane launched by the military. It was an unmanned space vehicle, slightly less than 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. That's smaller than the space shuttle. It went up into space for a total of seven months and came back to Earth this month. Nobody knew about the spaceplane because it was a classified operation, but someone leaked it to the public.
With this new technology, there is so much we can do in space. Besides sending humans to do work, we could now put robots in or on this spaceplane and use them to do work for us. It is not known exactly what the spaceplane is supposed to do yet, but it could be used for many things. We could send it to explore distant planets, or planets that humans cannot explore. We could also use it for faster transportation through space. With so much new technology, there is no limit to what we cannot do.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Good and The Bad
Not another class post, a homework post!
Well-designed website: www.monstercss.com/en
Poorly designed website: http://www.siphawaii.com/
Bad Website Review
The website I found with bad design is www.siphawaii.com. There are many things wrong with this website. The first and very obvious problem is the enormous amount of color on the page. Another prominent issue is the lack of white space around the sections of text. This website is also very long, and could easily have been broken down into different pages.
Good Website Review
The website I chose that has good design is www.monstercss.com/en. (The 'en' in there because the site was originally written in Portuguese.) I think the overall style of this site is cute yet informative. The homepage shows a monster roaming back and forth through a cityscape. The colors used complement each other well. Also, the navigation is obvious and easy to find. Finally, the site shows that the designer has previous knowledge designing web pages with CSS.
Well-designed website: www.monstercss.com/en
Poorly designed website: http://www.siphawaii.com/
Bad Website Review
The website I found with bad design is www.siphawaii.com. There are many things wrong with this website. The first and very obvious problem is the enormous amount of color on the page. Another prominent issue is the lack of white space around the sections of text. This website is also very long, and could easily have been broken down into different pages.
Good Website Review
The website I chose that has good design is www.monstercss.com/en. (The 'en' in there because the site was originally written in Portuguese.) I think the overall style of this site is cute yet informative. The homepage shows a monster roaming back and forth through a cityscape. The colors used complement each other well. Also, the navigation is obvious and easy to find. Finally, the site shows that the designer has previous knowledge designing web pages with CSS.
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