Technology Article

After struggling with his Apple TV set, Steve Jobs said that he would make a new product: a voice-controlled television remote. Microsoft, Comcast, and Samsung are working on voice-enabled technology, as well. This new kind of technology will be available by 2013. Rather than use the TV remote, someone will have to sit on the sofa and tell the cable what to do. However, this new kind of technology will have its downfalls. Some people may want to have their TV remote fixed instead of replaced.

In my opinion, I think this would be a great idea and it will be very simple. In real-life, my parents have been having trouble with the cable at our house and put the blame on me. Then they will call for help. Voice-automated tech will change their lives when they tell the cable to record "The Big Bang Theory", for instance. That way, they will never again have to worry. I definitely agree with this article.

My Source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/voice-control-the-end-of-the-tv-remote-12072011.

Animoto Wish List

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Here are some of the games, music and movies I want this year for Christmas.

Snow White and the Magic Mirror (Animoto)

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In this hilarious comedy adaptation of the classic Brothers Grimm tale, Snow White, the fairest maiden in the land, is banished by her wicked and vain stepmother, the Queen. Fortunately, the seven dwarfs, who are almost never short on good laughs, become her happy new family. Although they cannot keep Snow White safe from the Queen's terrible magic, the spell of the poisoned apple is broken by the promise of true love!

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November Thanks

There is a lot I need to be thankful for.  I am thankful to God for giving me life and bringing happiness into my teenage life.  Mom and Dad are thankful to God, too, because He has blessed them with a kind and loving daughter.  I am thankful to be my parents because they give me food and shelter, drive me where I need to go, come support me and give me something I want.  At school, I am thankful to my teachers and my peers.  They can be a nuisance at times, but I need to know they want to help.

I should also be to my 18 year old sister Meg.  We may have our differences, but I know she really cares about me.  When I am at home, I am eternally grateful to my beloved puppy Scooter because he likes to play and sleep with me.  In my life, I am also thankful to my enormous and loving family, even my two widowed grandmothers.  One of my grandmothers lives in a condominium in Carroll, while the other lives in Beatrice, Nebraska.  I should be grateful because they treat me tenderly and know what is best for me, like my parents.

Finally, I am especially grateful for my uniqueness and my talents.  God has made me a very special young lady.  I have been very good at being kind and helpful to other people, and also playing the piano.  And that makes other people happy and love me in return.

A Brand New App

If I could invent any new App at all, it would be an iScan.  iScans are used to scan any unfamiliar words or phrases in a book, brochure, pamphlet, or study guide.  They also come in handy for scanning information on your iPad, iPhone, iTouch, or iPod nano.  Not only does it scan, but it gains you access to your iTunes music program.  You can download new songs and add them to iTunes.  iScan is an expensive new form of technology that can help you out when you are blogging/texting.

It will take a very long time for the iScan to be developed, but it will really improve your life.  You can charge your new iScan on your Apple Stereo.  Plus, it has a GPS, calendar, notepad, song shuffle, stopwatch, trash, a place to store your blogs, programs and documents, and other features on your computer desktop or MP3 Player.  If you can afford an iScan, you can download your favorite music onto it.  No one knows when the iScan will be ready to use.  When the iScan is ready for use, you can do anything from scanning new words to listening to your music to watching videos on YouTube to texting to your closest friends to looking up things.

Halloween 2011

Monday is Halloween.  The past Halloweens, I recall dressing up as a princess, Baby Bop from "Barney", a pink bunny,  a poodle skirt girl from the 1950's, an alien, and Belle.  I still have my alien costume; you know, green alien mask, black cape, and trench coat.  This year I am in my teens, so I am much too old to go trick-or-treating.  The scariest movie I know is John Carpenter's Halloween.  Rob Zombie directed a remake, but the 1978 version of Halloween was way better because of the quality.

Speaking of which, we went out to eat in Grand Junction a few weekends ago.  I had a pizza burger, and I noticed a Michael Myers figure.  There is a purple button between his feet; when you press it, he starts moving.  My favorite Halloween movie is Halloween 4, when Michael snaps out of a ten-year coma and stalks his young niece Jamie in the haunted mid-western town of Haddonfield, Illinois.  Michael was so lifelike, I couldn't stand getting close to him.  Mom and I had our picture taken with this figure.

Villisca, Iowa, is the birthplace of the notorious axe murders.  We drove by the house on our way to Earth, Wind and Fire's concert.  Josiah Moore and Sara Montgomery married on December 6, 1899.  Their four children were Hermann, Paul, Katherine, and Boyd.  In June 1912, the family were brutally axed to death.  Ina and Lena Stillinger were invited to spend the night at the Moore residence.  As soon as everyone was asleep, the intruder took an axe and first killed Sara and Josiah.  Then he bludgeoned the children in the heads, just like their parents.

Around the World

If I could travel to any city or country in the world, I want to go to Tokyo, the capital of Japan.  I want to go there sometime in the future because there is a lot to see.  Too bad it's only almost all the way around the world.  In Tokyo, I want to go sightseeing, go see Disneyland Tokyo, eat Japanese cuisine, ride on a bullet train, attend festivals and read manga like Pokemon, Yugioh, Ranma, Dragonball, Naruto, and Sailor Moon.  Did you know the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during WW2?  Their leader Tojo was part of the Axis Alliance at that time.  Japs were also put into special camps in America following the attack.

10th Anniversary of 9-11

I was in the first grade when the famous attacks occurred.  I didn't remember much at that time.  In fact, I did not know that it had happened.  Now I feel devastated when I found that all out.  I feel angry and frightened about foreigners attacking our country.  I also feel very sorry for kids my age who are living without their loved ones.  One night, not long ago, I watched this on the news hosted by Linda Ellerbee.  Other kids recall what happened on that fateful Tuesday.  All I know is that it happened in New York City and that it was planned by a terrorist organization known as al Qaeda.  Before the attack, a couple of planes were being hijacked.  Approximately three thousand people were killed.  Eight hundred others were injured.  Osama bin Laden is the leader of al Qaeda.  He had been hiding in the mountains in Pakistan.  When he refused to surrender, he was fatally shot to death.  No one know what the future will hold for us.

30 things to do before I'm 30

1. travel the world (New York, Egypt, China, Niagara Falls, Machu Picchu, France, England, Italy)

2. drive down the highway

3. set off on a Disney cruise

4. take a trip to Disneyland

5. sing in a Broadway musical

6. dance the tango, polka, salsa, and foxtrot

7. windsurfing

8. explore outer space

9. write some books

10. attend dinner parties

11. read the entire Junie B. Jones series

12. play the piano at a concert

13. explore the rain forest

14. pay a visit to Japan

15. stay in Hawaii

16. visit world famous landmarks

17. go inside a submarine

18. swim in a sea near a tropical island

19. ride on a motorcycle

20. go on a yacht ride

21. work in a library

22. watch Friday the 13th movies

23. take photographs of planets

24. blast off in a rocket in Florida

25. visit the Everglades

26. visit the Grand Canyon

27. gamble at a Las Vegas casino

28. ice skating

29. see Earth Wind and Fire in concert

30. stay in a mansion

Our Digital World

 We cannot live without computers, phones, or automobiles.  Automobiles transport us to places we cannot reach on foot.  Phones are there for us so that we can talk to other people over a long distance.  Computers are also useful because we need it to look up new things.  Tech has changed society because more useful inventions have been made, like the phonograph and the cotton gin.  This technology has helped people a lot.  That is exactly why it is a good thing.  

Tropical Paradise

This July, my family and I traveled to Puerto Rico.  On Saturday, July 23rd, we got up early to catch our flight from Omaha to Atlanta to Puerto Rico.  We all stayed at the courtyard by Marriott.  On the beach, I set foot in the Caribbean Sea.  There is one part on the beach named Shell City, where you can find tons of seashells.  I even found myself a sand dollar.  My mom had to buy a glass jar since I hoarded so many little shells.  In fact, we all went to see the sites.  Our hotel has a casino, a game room, and a salsa class.  We left for home on Friday, July 29th.  At first, I did not want to go.  But I gave it a try just to relax.  My folks liked it so much, they wanted to go again.