Creative Blog #1

So this is the last required blog in the set and I still need a creative blog so here it is, I think I'll with a rant because those are always fun, at least for me anyway.

Ok so it is Christmas time, which means Christmas music has been playing since last month, and I'm already tired of it. Not that I don't like Christmas, or Christmas music, its just that I'm tired of hearing the same 6 songs over and over again just done slightly differently by different artists. Why aren't people writing new Christmas songs? And if they are why aren't they on the radio?

(p.s. blogger should really auto correct things like in Word.......just saying)

Ok so now that I'm off that, things going on in my life. Well it's Senior year its been going pretty well. Got accepted to every college I applied to, not that i applied to any schools that are that hard to get into, but I'm excited to have options. At this point I'm thinking San Francisco State will be the college for me.

What else... Works been going good, I've been getting less hours, but gas prices are going down so its all good.

On the musical side of things I'm still working on teaching myself piano, and hopefully soon I can get some drums and pick up on that. Ultimately my goal in music would be to be in a real band, but I just don't have the time So i'm content just learning as much as I can. Speaking of bands my band has a show coming up in January, its the show we usually play in Sebastopol, but this time its in Cotati. It should be alot of fun usually play for around 100 people, so its not that big but i like it better that way.

Also i'm playing the music for a Christmas play at my church, it would be alot of fun, but i'm working with kids all about 8 years old and some even younger. And if you know anything about kids you could see how I'd be having trouble getting a group of them to cooperate.

Well thats about it for now, I probably won't be doing rants to often, but it was kinda nice just to write down everything thats happening right now. Until next time!

Managing Your Online Identity

In today's world almost everyone is online, people are posting blogs, comments, pictures, and videos. With the millions of people posting new content everyday how can you make sure that your content is being viewed and thought about? This can be a very hard thing to do for some people, but this blog is going to show you just how easy it is.

So lets start at the first place people go when looking for things, search engines. Now the search engine used by the majority of internet users is of course Google. They have been expanding over the last few years by starting their own email service, acquiring YouTube, as well as this website, Blogger, and seeing as they are so prevelant that is the search engine we will focus on.

Now getting your name to the top of the search results sounds like a long drawn out task but it is actually much simpler than most people think. There are many different websites that do all the hard work for you, two of these websites are Linkedin and Naymz. These websites give you a profile that you can post all your other websites on and then the website links your profile al over the interent. After a while these results get picked up by google and get placed at the top. Its as easy as that!

I personally have tried both and after about a week my name had broken into the top ten search results multiple times. First is my Linkedin profile and next is my Naymz profile. I was surprised and how fast they got me into the results.

Another way to break into the top ten is to start making accounts on as many sites as possible and contribute to them regularly. For example, my Pandora profile contributes many links to the search results, and at this momment a search for my name will result in about 56,000 results. I don't know how many of those are actually me but i know for sure that the first 8 links on google go to sites that are controlled by me.

Managing your online identity will be a very important skill to learn for the future as more and more businesses start to google search their potential employees.

A Catch The Wave Original

Go Animate - Post Modernism

These are some cartoons I helped make with the extremely cool website GoAnimate. This website allows anyone to create their very own cartoons. Its very simple to use and easy to set up, go check it out!

Top ten lists are all over the internet now for things like music, movies, and pretty much anything else you can think of. But why are lists so popular? Its because they're easy to make just think of ten things write them down and your basically done. But recently author Tom Moon has been assigned to write a book called 1000 Recordings to Hear Before you Die. Moon said that at first he was a little apprehensive about starting this project, after all do you think you could come up with a thousand songs that everyone needs to hear? But after starting the project he has grown to like it much more than he thought. He said "A book such as 1000 Recordings can help people see past their particular favorite artists or genres and tap into the whole world of recorded music. This is going to be a difficult task, as Moon has millions of songs to listen too and decide if it is worthy of his list.

David Tohmpson is also creating a similar list, but about movies which he calls "Have You Seen....?" and many others are also working on lists for music as well.

I think that its great that people are putting together lists like these. I think that people should always be trying to expand their interests, i mean how can you really know what you like if there are things out there you haven't experienced yet. These kinds of lists can be extremely useful, as they consolidate a lot of informtion and put them into an easy to read format.

These lists are very similar to online music sites like Pandora, which I have had a lot of experience with, and the newer Mufin.com These sites both generate playlists of similar songs or artists based on user input. Sites, lists, and books like these are all very useful tools to use to find new favorite bands or movies. I would highly recommend checking them out, especially Pandora as it is at risk of shutting down. Remember you can't really know your favorites until you know what else is out there.


via CNN

Robotic Legs

Honda just revealed a new prototype for a robotic pair of legs to help with walking. The new device is designed to make the jobs of people who are on their feet all day much easier, for example people in post offices, delivery services, and even auto shops. The robotic legs would reduce stress, climb stairs, and get in and out of crouching positions easier.

In postal services, the device would help postmen walk for longer periods of time without getting as tired meaning they could walk farther from their truck saving gas and time. Mechanics could use the legs to crouch down underneath cars without feeling as much pain from getting up and down constantly every day. 

One of the lead engineers on the project said that it should be just as easy to use as a bicycle, which means that not much time would be needed to train people on how to use them.  The device itself contains a computer, gears, batteries, and even various sensors to help respond to the users movements. 

The device is still in development, and it could be a while before we see these on the streets, but I think that they won't really catch on. I think these will take the same road as the segway, a few people will buy them but they are still a little too awkward looking to be taken mainstream.

Honda is not the only company looking into single person transportation, Toyota is also developing their own segway like device. Toyota's device, called the winglet, looks almost exactly like the segway, except it comes in three separate models, two of which do not have anything to hold onto other than standing on it. Even without the handle, the winglet manages to be just as easy to use as the segway. 

Maybe in the future this competition between companies will finally result in a small unobtrusive vehicle that could actually be popular, but for now I'm sure that any vehicles like this will only appeal to very small groups of people.

Taken from CNN

Anthrax in the Mail

On wednesday the 29th a man was arrested for sending fake anthrax threats through the mail. The man's name is Marc M. Keyser, he is 66 years old and lives in California. He has sent at least 120 envelopes containing sugar packets labeled "Anthrax Sample" to many different places around the country, and even more are suspected to be in the mail.

He sent his letters mainly to newspapers and television stations, but some Starbucks have also reported receiving letters. Keyser didn't keep his letters local, his letters have gone as far as Boston, where two newspaper offices had to evacuate their buildings. Offices in Minneapolis have also received these envelopes.

I watched a report on this man earlier today on the news, they said that he has been arrested for the same crime before, but was let go because no real harm was caused. They are not sure if he will be let go for a repeat offense, especially when the effects were so far reaching this time. 

Personally I don't know why Keyser would do something like this, especially twice. There seems to be no real connection between the places he sends his letters other than they are mostly news buildings, nor a reason for him to be sending anthrax threats to these places. I think it has to be something more than just a prank, because if he was arrested already for doing this why would he risk it again? Also, a lot of work went in to addressing the envelopes as well as placing things in them, more work than I think would be done for some prank. 

It probably won't be long before investigators find a reason for Keyser's actions, and when asked if he would do it again he was quoted as saying "Absolutely"

From The Boston Channel

Carzen

Carzen is a site that just launched a few days ago, the purpose of this site is to match people up with a new car that would be perfect for them. This site works like many other matching sites, but instead of taking a personality test you answer questions about what your ideal car would be. The questions range from mileage, safety ratings, and cost to what brand and model you would like.  

After completing the test the site generates a list of cars that fit your answers. The list can be sorted by price, model, and how close the car was to your results. The list even gives an expected price for each car.

I took the test to see which car would be best for me. I chose the cheapest option which is from 10,000 to 15,000 dollars and even at that price range there were many cars to choose among. I then got to choose features like cd players, iPod inputs, power outlets, airbags, and many other options. At the end of the test, which took about ten minutes I found out the ideal car for me would be the Kia Spectra EX, it matched 89% of my specifications. 

I thought the test was very easy and fun to use. The site was well laid out, with an excellent design. It could be a very useful tool for those who don't know where to start in looking for a new car. I'm sure this site will be successful and continue to grow.