Blog #9

my favorite unit was learning about different articles. my least favorite was the stuff at the beginning when we had the sub.

my favorite project was the editorial project and the project in the beginning about the book was my least favorite.

I would definitely keep doing the editorial and column projects but I think we should cut out the book project at the beginning because it was boring and too much work.

Blog #8

1.) Negative review: 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/american-horror-story-freak-show-738626?mobile_redirect=false

Positive review:

http://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/american-horror-story-freak-show-season-premiere-review-monsters-season-4-episode-1/

2.) Both of the reviews are critiquing the opening of American Horror Story's new season- Season 4: Freak Show.

3.) The negative reviewer does not like American Horror Story and believes that it is "lucrid— slow-paced, and obvious." 

The positive reviewer believes the show has "mesmerizing characters and a perfect atmosphere."

4.) The negative reviewer provided a fact to support their review by saying "The plot isn’t much different from the granddaddy of all freak-show films, Todd Browning's 1932 Freaks — unusual performers band together as a defensively hostile group, persecuted by the “normal” citizenry repelled by them." They provided an opinion to support their review by saying "Thus far, the show’s most dramatic figure of fright is a horror-fiction staple: the murderous clown."

The positive reviewer provided a fact to support their review by saying "Like the other seasons, it’s set in its own time and place (1952 Jupiter, Florida) and finds familiar faces like Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters taking on new characters." They provided an opinion to support their review by saying "...the series has always been one of television’s most passionate and potent celebrations of misfits and monsters."

5.) I agree with the positive reviewer's opinion because I too believe that the season has been a very captivating and interesting season, and is also very intriguing.

Blog #7

1. The topic of the editorial and written article is of the spending on foreign aids and policies.

2. The cartoon editorial makes fun of the President for wasteful spending on foreign policies. The author doesn't agree with the President's spending. The written editorial discusses how we pay too much on our foreign aids and policies. The author also doesn't agree with the spending. 

3. The cartoon and written editorial are alike in how they are both discussing foreign spending and both authors disagree with how the money is being spent on forgeign aids and policies. The editorials are different in that the cartoon is making fun of the President and the spending and the written editorial is discussing spending on foreign aid and policies and what it's doing to the country, which would be increasing inflation.

4. The written editorial got it's point across more effectively because it's easier to understand and it's not as ambiguous as the cartoon may be.

5. The benefits of drawing an editorial cartoon is that it's an entertaining way to get the point across. Drawbacks are they may have both ambiguous and ambivalent meanings and may be harder to understand.

The benefits of a written editorial is that it's a straightforward point being proven and it's easier to understand than a cartoon. The drawbacks are that it may lose the reader's interest in the midst of just looking at the words and if it's on a complicated subject like politics, the reader may become easily confused if the editorial is not explained thoroughly.

cartoon editorial:

link to written editorial: 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/03/06/foreign-aid-debt-spending/6138869/

the iPhone 5S vs. the iPhone 6

Tim Cook (Apple CEO) and the Apple team recently released the newest iPhone- the iPhone 6. The new iPhone was released September 19th, 2014 to Apple stores worldwide.

What's the difference between the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6? There's not many differences between the two phones. The main differences are the cost of the phone, display size, and camera features.

The iPhone 5S is listed for $99 for a 16GB model, while the iPhone 6 is listed for $199 for a 16GB model, both on Apple's website. The 5S has a 4 inch display while the iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch display. The iPhone 6 plus has an even bigger display at 5.5 inches. As for width, the iPhone 6 is the thinnest out of both the iPhone 5S and the 6 plus with a width of only 6.9 mm. The 5S's width is 7.6 mm and the 6 plus' width is 7.1 mm.

Apple recently added new camera features such as "focus pixels." Focus pixels allow the phone's camera to automatically adjust to focus. On the front facing camera, there is now a sensor which lets in 81% more light, and the camera is bigger. Improved face detection is also a new feature that was added to Apple's newest iPhones. Both the iPhone 5s and the 6 have an 8Mp back camera.

Assistant Principal, Williams, has the iPhone 5S. When asked how he likes his phone, he replied, "I really enjoy it other than I have the 16GB and I'm always running out of space." Williams said that he liked the new camera and camera features that the iPhone 6 has to offer. Williams doesn't, however, like the size of the 6. He reported, "In order to dress professionally while I'm at work, I usually carry around my phone on my side in my belt holster. Occasionally, I keep it in my pocket, but not as much. The iPhone 6 [and 6 plus] is definitely too big for my pocket, and I feel like it would also be too big to carry around on my side."

MeKayla Caskey (sophomore) owns the iPhone 6. "I LOVE my phone," Caskey replies when asked how she liked her phone. "My phone that I have now [as opposed to her past iPhone 5] has a better camera so the pictures are so much more clear. The phone is bigger too, so it holds more stuff per page, which is good for Twitter and Instagram."Caskey also states that she likes her iPhone 6 way better than the iPhone 5 that she previously owned. Her current 6 is "bigger and better" and she also has the 128GB, so she's "never running out of space for pictures, apps, and music."

Both new iPhones and the iPhone 5S run on Apple's latest software version- iOS 8.

photo credit: Apple's website

Blog #6

1.) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/wildfires/

This is an informational article about wildfires. It gives information about how wildfires start, the dangers of them, and what firefighters do to prevent them.

2.) http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/social-emotional-skills/bullying-and-teasing-no-laughing-matter

This is an informational article about bullying. This article discusses how bullying starts, the effects of bullying, warning signs of if someone is being bullied, and how to help.

3.) http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/blog/human-interest-news-stories/surgeon-operates-on-doctor-who-delivered-him/

This article is a human interest article about a doctor performing surgery on the doctor who delivered him at birth. An obstetrician in California had heart attack surgery performed on him by a doctor that he delivered at birth 45 years ago. The 2 discovered this strange coincidence when the patient told the doctor that he had delivered babies at Sutter hospital, and the doctor was born there so he went home and found his birth certificate, which was signed by his patient (birth doctor). 

4.) http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/blog/human-interest-news-stories/bavarian-farmer-puts-diapers-on-his-cows-in-eu-protest/

This is a human interest article about a farmer who puts diapers on his cows. It's strange, but they do so to avoid falling foul to an EU fertilizer ban.

5.) http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/53/5219/7-accessories-every-girl-needs-to-have-in-her-wardrobe1.asp

This is a trending article about clothing items and accessories that "every girl should have in her closet." The list includes: boots, a black dress, a black blazer, purses and handbags, and scarves and headgear. 

6.) http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/53/5236/fashion-trends-for-men1.asp

This is a trending article about men's fashion. It includes the past fashion trends for men, the current ones, and the differences in the past and present trends.

A Backyard Photo Story

The swing set where I once spent hours and hours of the day playing now stands alone and rusts away.

Our dogs that are now long and gone used to live in this custom made dog house, but now the house is back in the woods occupied by nothing. 

At one time, a long rope swing hung from this tree, but the limb that it was on died and we had to cut the swing down and move it to a different spot. 

The new location of the old rope swing, but now the rope swing isn't nearly half as long or fun as it was, it barely drags the ground.

The tree that I would climb all the way to the top and spent days climbing all around trying to find new ways to get to the top.

My dog, Stella, who died from injuries from another dog, is buried under this tree and mini-garden-arrangement in our backyard.

5 Things That Happened Over The Summer

During the summer, a lot of things happened that either made a big impact on, or definitely interested, a lot of people.

One of the things that happened was the arrest of teens who beat up and recorded the beating of a mentally disabled man in Newark, Delaware. The video shows the teens attacking the 26-year old mentally disabled man, and they continued to attack him after he tried to run away and begged for them to stop. The man was thrown to the ground, punched in the face, and kicked in the sides. At another location, the man was held up in the air and thrown to the ground. He was also pushed into a shallow creek. The teens that were assaulting him were 13 and 14 and were charged with offensive touching, assault on a vulnerable adult and third-degree conspiracy. #TheBullyProject started trending on Instagram and Twitter as awareness for this incident. This article is newsworthy because it shows how cruel kids can be and it also shows how you really need to be careful what you upload to the internet because it can get you into serious trouble. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/09/video-teens-attacking-mentally-disabled-man/15321811/

Another thing that impacted a lot of people was the shooting of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was 18 years old and unarmed when he was walking down the street with a friend when an officer approached him and shot him to death. According to the police chief of St. Louis country, Brown physically assaulted the officer and reached for the officer's gun. During a candlelight vigil for Brown, more than a dozen businesses were vandalized and looted. This event is newsworthy because it is the backstory and reason for all the riots and violence in Ferguson. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/michael-brown-ferguson-missouri-timeline/14051827/

Comedian Joan Rivers has died. She died of cardiac arrest/heart failure during one of her surgeries. After her cardiac arrest, she was rushed to a New York hospital where she eventually was placed in a medically induced coma. However, she never regained consciousness. Supposedly, the doctor who was performing the surgery during which Rivers had her cardiac arrest, had taken a selfie during the operation. This article is newsworthy because it tells you how Joan Rivers died, but it also lets you in on some information that most people probably don't know about- her surgeon taking a selfie during the operation. 

http://www.nola.com/celebrities/index.ssf/2014/09/joan_rivers_doctor_may_have_ta.html#incart_story_package

Kim Kardashian became Kim Kardashian West. At the beginning of the summer, Kim and Kanye finally got married. They were married at Forte di Belvedere in Florence, Italy. As a wedding gift, Kanye got Kim a book of her selfies. It was 3"0 pages and titled "Selfish." This article is newsworthy because it fills people in on Kim and Kanye's wedding, as they're a popular celebrity couple, and most people probably don' know about Kanye's wedding gift of a book of selfies to Kim. 

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/celebrity/2013/10/22/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-engaged-married-news-gossip

In late August, Louisville, Kentucky got crazy. A teenager started "Purge threats." Police believe that the idea of the threats came from the movie "the Purge" and its sequel. Police say they did not see a higher crime rate on the night of the rumored threat, but there were a high number of anonymous tips, most of which came to be unfounded. Many people were listening in to the police scanners on an app at the time of this event. This article is newsworthy because it gives information about how the movie started rumors in real life about purge threats. 

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Louisville-police-respond-to-purge-fliers-271405911.html?device=phone