Rating Me Crazy!

            Life is not lived unless you have seen a movie at least once in your life time. They make you laugh. They make you sad. They make you cry. They make you mad. A good movie should play with your emotions making you feel as if it were really happening. We go to movies so that we can be in a fairy tale world where guns fire, love at first sight exists, and cars fly. The movies we watch describe ourselves more than you think. Within the next two weeks 11 rated "R" movies will come out. What does that say about our subconscious minds? The higher up a rating goes the higher the net profit. Why do we have to enjoy movies with so much blood, cursing, and intimate relationships?

          There are movies that are good and not rated R. For example Jaws is rated PG and it is quite frightening. Disney movies rock socks and they aren't rated R. There are millions upon millions of movies made in the world each year. Even though more and more movies are rated R; there are still other amazing non-rated R movies in the world. You just have to find the right one that fits your personality and style. Next time you go to watch a movie think about what is going into your life and your future children’s lives because if more R rated movies become popular, the more they will make them and get rid of G, children rated movies.

SAT & ACT Scandal

          You eat breakfast and wake up full of energy. You’re even a bit jittery. You go to your designated classroom you sit in front of a computer. You upload your picture to the computer and it puts it on your ticket. The next thing you know an administrator is coming up to your desk and checking to see if you picture matches your face.  This is what could start happening in schools around the country.

          Recently 20 students were charged with cheating. Though at least 50 were involved they only had enough evidence to arrest 20. Even one male student took the test for a female. How can it be so easy to steal someone’s identity in a testing facility?

          Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice says, “These reforms close a gaping hole in standardized test security that allowed students to cheat and steal admissions offers and scholarship money from kids who play by the rules." Because of this security problem they will be taking security to new heights. This fall a student will have to bring in a picture of them to verify their identity. Not only will they be checked out at the testing site but students have to label their schools on their form. The school will also receive the picture as well as grade to verify the student goes to their school. “This back-end check will provide another opportunity for cheaters to be caught,” says Rice.  

          With these new ideas I thought why don’t you just send in your picture, but with the back up plan I think it will be very hard to cheat on these tests. This will make it fair for the honorable students to get the scholarships that elude them because of cheaters.

Google Doodles



First ever Google Doodle.



Over the years you use Google and every once in awhile you see a strange logo. You can’t help but wonder why they are there, so you hover your mouse over the picture and see it is so and so's 126th birthday. I personally love these logos and think they are so cool. As of 14 February 2011, Google had 1002 logos in their gallery. After so many images you wonder “What was the first?” 

The first Google Doodle, as they are called, was in honor of the Burning Man Festival of 1998. It was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They created it to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed. Their intern, Dennis Hwang, has been designing Google Doodles ever since. Now they have become more extensive and entertaining.

On Friday, May 21, 2010 they created a doodle for the 30^th birthday of Pac-man. It was the first playable logo. It is an accurate recreation of the game. It contains 255 levels. On the browser the “I’m feeling lucky” button was replaced with an “Insert Coin” button. When you press it you start the game. If you press it twice you can play with two players. One player uses the arrow keys, while the other player uses the W, A, S, D keys. If you are interested in playing this awesome game you can go to http://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man.

On Friday, April 15, 2011, Google made their first video doodle. It recalled Charlie Chaplin and celebrated his 122^nd birthday. It was a black and white YouTube video. After it was played it lead you to the Google search engine.

            On June 9^th, 2011 Google celebrated Les Paul’s 96^th birthday. They displayed a interactive electric guitar. When you hovered your mouse over the strings it would play that string or strings. You could also record your music and send it to others. Because this logo was so popular they left it on the website an extra day. If you are interested in playing the guitar go to http://www.google.com/doodles/les-pauls-96th-birthday.
            Though they are plentiful all the logos mean something special and are fun to see. These logos are easy to recognize and just plain interesting. Hope you enjoy the Google Doodles throughout the years.

Left, Right, and Left again! (Even When in a Car?)

You hold on tight as the wheels spin you around in your little black car. It wasn't your fault but you can still see your life flash before your eyes. Observers view the crash from 3 yards away. Debris is flying from the black car; it is spinning out of control as smoke comes up from the hood. You blink a few times and realize you just witnessed a crash. It was all of the sudden. At least you weren't any closer or else you could have been hit. That is what we thought as we sat there in our car in front of the red light. The crash had been sudden but deadly. The car next to us ran the red light and ended up hitting the black car. It happened in a matter of seconds then it was all over. You could see the airbags go off and people get out of their car to help.

Accidents like this happens everyday. Each year nearly 1,000 deaths and 90,000 injuries happen because of running a red light in the nation. Between 1992 and 1998 red light crashes increased by 18%. According to the Federal Highway Administration, "96% of drivers fear being hit by a red light runner upon entering an intersection, yet 55.8% admits to running red lights.

After hearing the alarming news people usually start looking for a cure. They decided to post Red light cameras (RLC) at every intersection. This way they could take a picture of the car and get them a ticket for running the red light. They tested this camera in five different studies and found surprising results.

“The results of this study suggest that the installation of the RLC at these sites did not provide any reduction in accidents, rather there has been increases in rear end and adjacent approaches accidents.”

"After cameras were installed, rear-end crashes increased for the entire six-jurisdiction study area… After controlling for time and traffic volume at each intersection, rear-end crash rates increased by an average of 27% for the entire study area.”

“Exhibit 2 (after inserting cameras) indicates the red light running treatments have:

* Contributed to a 4.9% increase in fatal and injury rear-end collisions; and
* Contributed to a 49.9% increase in property damage only rear-end collisions.

With results like these, new ideas are still being formed. So, next time you go across the intersection go back to the old cross the road rule, "Look left, right, then left again."

When You Wish Upon A Star....

Growing up is a part of life. You actually have a gene for age development so that you can grow. Without this gene you could stay the same age. Everyone at one time in their life has been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It is a normal question that travels with you for the rest of your life. Not many people are lucky enough to fulfill their childhood dreams. Sometimes that job doesn't pay enough. Sometimes it seems too hard. A lot of young girls dreamed of being a famous singer, dancer, or actress. Some boys dreamed of being firefighters or superheroes. Why can't we be what we want to be? Why are our dreams taken from us over night? Do we aim to high or do we not try hard enough? I heard a quote once it said "Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will land amongst the stars." If you try to reach your dreams you will lose nothing but if you don't try you will lose everything. It is common sense to at least try because there is a chance; even if it is a small chance. You could still be the one thing you have dreamed of being. So I encourage you to reach for the moon.

Moneyball or Sad Excuse?

            Last night I finally had the chance to watch the movie my sister and brother-in-law raved about. I was excited because if they think a movie is good, it must be good. As the beginning started I thought this better be good.

            Baseball is my favorite sport to watch because I understand it and it is my dad’s favorite sport, thus it is always on the T.V. There are a good amount of movies that talk about true sport stories. I found myself wondering if this movie would reach the bar of the movie The Blindside or Angles in the Outfield, but by the end of the movie I found myself wondering if that was it. There was no great climax, you could only find one memorable character (the best character was his daughter and all she did was sing a cute song), and you never picked the side you wanted to win. It left you not believing in the team or the movie. If you keep looking at the clock during a movie, you know it's bad. I kept wondering how long the movie could possibly be. If it is a bad movie an hour and twenty five minutes will suffice so you can rate it a "D" movie instead of an "F" movie. It didn't help that this movie was longer than two hours. If you cried in this movie it was because the popcorn smell was too strong. I think it is suffice to say don’t expect a great movie. Maybe if you expect a bad movie it will seem like a better.

The Mystery and the Action

      
        I recently watched Sherlock Holmes 2 and it was very interesting and completely different from the first. The theater was full of laughs and gasps. It was more of an action movie than the first because the first movie was focused on how it could have happened but the second movie was focused more on how it will happen. It was pressed more for the future than the first movie. The ending was so sad but crazy at the same time. You had a gut feeling inside of you which was true. The movie left you with a satisfied feeling at the end of the movie no matter how it was in its entirety; you left happy.