Expensive Tech, An old transistor and a revolution.

Many of you readers would agree with me that technology is really a revolution. It has changed SO much in the last few years. Take storage for example.  In 1991, (26 years ago), a hard drive (Photo on the right) held a grand total of 1 GB. Nowadays, you can get a 10 TB drive (10,000 times more data can be stored) that's half the physical size of the 1GB Drive!

Hard drives are really not that interesting, so I have another example. 70 years ago, in 1947 the first transistor was invented. Transistors are electronic components that direct the flow of electricity. They run your computer, router, microwave, tv, pretty much anything that is more complicated than a lamp. In 1947, a transistor looked like the big clear thing on the top left. Of course one of those isn't in your microwave. The transistor on the bottom right is a modern day version of what the giant transistor was in 1947. One of the transistors on the left would cost about 25 cents today. What about transistors in computers? Is my computer filled with little black components with three wires sticking out? Well, no. The device on the right is a modern-day CPU (Central Processing Unit) In fact this is the one that is in my computer right now. This package, while larger than the single transistor on the right, this component has 1.75 Billion transistors inside! This chip costs around $300, but the number of transistors inside is insane. If you're willing to pay a little (a lot) more, $1700 to be exact, you can purchase the Intel 6950x, a CPU with a whopping 3.4 Billion transistors!

So what? Why does it matter how many odd-looking clear plastic things are in a computer? Why does it matter that they are smaller now? The answer is speed. My old computer had 1.3 Billion transistors, and while not even half a billion might not seem like a huge difference, the new machine feels so much faster. And it really is! In terms of raw speed, measured in Gigahertz (The more GHZ the better) the 0.45 transistor difference makes my current computer 145% faster than the old one. Transistor count doesn't mean everything however, my CPU beats the $1700 one by 25% in raw speed.

Now on to how the technology revolution has affected me. One example of the technology revolution is again, my computer. The 1.3 Billion transistor CPU came out in 2013. I built my current one over winter break, 6 (almost 7) years difference, and the chip is 145% faster? Thats amazing! (Both computers cost roughly the same at the time when I got them) The speed has changed so much in the span of just a few years! Another example of something that has changed a ton in the last few years, is cell phones. The first iPhone was released in 2007. Apple doesn't really like to tell anyone how fast their products are, aside from the possibly false claims about their products being "Light years ahead" (Check out Kamran's article for more on that) They really don't give me a lot of technical details that I can actually compare to their newer devices. One thing that they do give us is the storage capacity. The first iphone came in 4, 8, and 16gb versions. The newest iPhone comes in 32, 128, and 256gb options. If you don't have a reference of what a gb can actually hold, A 2 hour movie or or 345 songs is about 1.5gb.

I sure hope that technology keeps improving as fast as it has, because I sure am excited when the day comes where I can hold 10 Billion transistors in my hand.

Why We Text: It All Started with the Telegraph

In 1844 the telegraph was invented by a man named Samuel Morse. The telegraph was the first machine that allowed people to communicate over long distances faster than a letter. The telegraph was the machine that revolutionized modern day communication. The telegraph was an invention that allowed people to communicate quickly where messages were sent over a long wire. By 1860, telegraph wires stretch from the east coast of the United States west of the Mississippi River. It wasn’t until 1866 that a telegraph line stretched across the Atlantic Ocean, allowing people to communicate outside of the U.S. To use the telgraph, you had to understand Morse Code because all you could type into the telegraph were dashes and dots. In Morse Code, each letter was assigned a specific sequence of dashes and dots.

In 1844, almost everyone who could afford the telegraph got one and used one. Why? Because the telegraph was the “next best thing” and it was what everyone else was speding their money on. Much like the telegraph, the smart phone is “the next best thing” for 2016 so, many people have one.

Morse code is somewhat similar to texting because you have to understand the different codes (abbreviations). For example, WTF doesn’t usually mean “why the face” and lol usually means “laugh out loud” not “lots of love”. If you were to use these in a wrong way, it could completely offend someone and make them mad at you. For example, if you were to hear that someone just lost their job and you said “I’m so sorry to hear about your job. lol” or if your friends grandma had recently become sick and you said “I’m so sorry to hear about your grandma. lol” I don’t think they would necessarily be to pleased with you.

What do you think would’ve happened if a texting device was invented before the telephone?

If Alexander Graham Bell had invented texting and Steve Jobs had invented the telephone, I think that the current generation would be talking instead texting. This also relates to my “next best thing” theory which is that society follows the current trends. Also, most teenagers and adults are using social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. more than talking on the phone. Lately, everyone is so wrapped up in their cyber life that they don’t spend the time to talk to people face to face anymore. Talking through the phone was invented before texting, so now when teenagers come from school and their parents ask “How was your day? or, “what did you learn?” or “what did you eat for lunch?” they usually get a one word answer like “good” or “nothing” or “food”. I feel that if texting was invented before talking on the phone, our generation would be much more talkative because our version of technology would involve way more conversation and social skills.

Sources:

"Morse Code and the Telegraph." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

    <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph>.

"Invention of the Telegraph." Library Of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

    <https://www.loc.gov/collections/samuel-morse-papers/articles-and-essays/

    invention-of-the-telegraph/>.

"Alexander Graham Bell." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14

    Feb. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

    Alexander_Graham_Bell#First_invention>.  

Images:

"Blizzard of 1888." Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

    <https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/

    542049756da8115a21ba15df-960-720/

telegraph-wires-many-of-which-would-have-connected-tickers-created-a-tech-y-canopy-above-downtown-manhattan.jpg>.

"Trains and Telegraphs." The Telecommunications History Group, Inc. N.p., n.d.

    Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <http://www.telcomhistory.org/vm/Images/main/science/

    telegraph1.jpg>.

Trip Planning in your Blog

This is what you are trying to do....

What Shutdown?

While I normally don't post to this blog, this topic is directly related to the primary users of the blog, World Cultures students, and they deserve to read what is being written and commented about them.  We are currently studying natural disasters as they relate to humans and geography.  Using primary data sources, students often access USGS sites.  They are, quite honestly, the most accurate in the world.  Since the Republican-led Congress decided to shut down the Federal Government, USGS sites have been inaccessible to students.  As a class, we brainstormed what to do, decided we would just move on, and return to USGS sites once the Government was funded and running again.  For a couple of seventh graders this was not an ideal solution.  In less than three hours, they were running up to me eagerly let me know they had found not one, but two workarounds that would allow them to continue accessing most USGS data.  Using Google's cache link, they were able to access most of the NationalAtlas site.  Also, a couple of students showed me the WayBack machine at web.archive.org.

Between the two sites, students could access enough information that our discussions, presentations, and curriculum could continue.  I'm sure there are bloggers, among them Will Richardson, who would smile at this post.  I'm humbled that my students wanted to continue learning even though their Republican adult role models are doing their best to insure the students would have to dig extra hard for the information they needed.  I wonder which party my students will be more sympathetic towards in the next Mock Election?

Environment Reflection

Now that you have researched and presented on how humans interact with their environment, please reflect on what you have learned.  You may include information from your two presentations on invasive species and environmental disasters.  Be specific when referring to places, plants, and environments.  Include a picture or two in your post.  Your post should be around two paragraphs (5-7 sentences each) long.  Use ghe, cultures, environment, presentations, learning, technology as your labels (tags)  In your reflection please include the following:

• How did using technology help you understand the problem/situation?
• Why do humans make changes to the environment?
• Are these changes justified?  Why or why not?
• How can a single change in the environment affect other aspects of the environment?
• How do you interact with your ecosystem or environment?  How do your actions affect your environment?

Sources:  http://www.federalheath.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Environment-logo.jpg

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/05/yellowriverSWNS190506_450x350.jpg?maxWidth=500

Audio test for Spanish

This is a test post for my Spanish colleague who would like students to read their work and upload the audio files into their blog.   Testing....testing....

The Storming of the Bastille and the Estates

Everybody has, at some point in their lifetime, heard of the Battle of Waterloo, and the fight at Gettysburg during the Civil War. Have you, however, heard of the Storming of the Bastille, and of all of the brave citizens who dared defy the higher classes? Of the unfair system of social rank, or the Third Estate? To know more about these answers, we must first go back and learn what the Estates are.

The estates were sort of like social classes, with the third being the lowest, and the first the highest. The Third Estate was by far the majority, it was 95% of the population. If France were our middle school, out of the roughly 200 students, only about ten would be in the upper two classes. Servants, skilled and unskilled workers, serfs, storekeepers, and laborers were all part of the Third Estate. However, it didn't only consist of slaves and serfs, also doctors, lawyers, and teachers. These people were the very backbone of the nation. They payed the biggest share of the taxes, even though they had few privileges and almost no say in governmental decisions. It wasn't until the Estates-General was formed that the Third Estate began to have a voice in the government, but even then, they would lose by vote of two to one.

The First Estate is mainly made up of members of the Church, and religious leaders. People believed that God gave a hierarchy to them, and a luxurious life to religious men who lived under God. They represent a minuscule 1% of the people of France, or two people out of the 200 in our middle school. This small minority owns one-tenth of the land, however! These people enjoyed many privileges, including not having to pay taxes. Nevertheless, most of the people of the First Estate weren't corrupt and rich, but relatively poor and well meaning. Many also knew they had unfair privileges. 


The Second Estate consisted of nobility and royalty, other than the monarch, who stood outside of the estates system. Owning from 25-30% of all the land of France, they had no shortage of places to live. They enjoyed many of the same privileges as the First Estate, and collected rent from the peasants who lived on their land, allowing them to live a very lavish lifestyle. Often, people from this estate joined the Church and moved up to the First Estate. Women were also born into either the Second or Third Estates, but were also labeled with the 'feminine estates': either a virgin, a widow, or a wife. 

Bernard René de Launay

The people of the Third Estate felt like they were being treated unfairly, and their lives were being controlled by the government. A very iconic building of the government was the Bastille. The Bastille was a fortress, serving as a prison located in Paris. Around 30,000 pounds of gunpowder were stored in there, in order to prevent citizens from acquiring arms. A very secure place, the Bastille was very important, and seen by many every day, reminding them of the power of the government. At the time, the governor of the Bastille, proving to be a very important character in the later invasion, was named Bernard René de Launay, son of the previous governor. He was actually born inside Bastille walls, and died protecting them.

During the reign of Louis XVI, France fell upon a major economic crisis, partially because of France's intervention in the American revolution. France attempted to solve its money problems by severely taxing the citizens of the Third Estate. This caused the Third Estate to get extremely angry, only worsening conditions. The government got nervous and posted extra guards to the eighty-four guards already at the Bastille. Eventually, a small group of demonstrators from the twenty-four million strong Third Estate decided to attack the Bastille in Paris.

On July 14, 1789, hundreds and hundreds of peasants, doctors, writers, shopkeepers, and other unified near the Bastille. They had previously stormed the Hôtel des Invalides to gather 31,000 muskets, yet without powder or shot, and now were trying to acquire the 30,000 pounds of gunpowder in the Bastille. There were only seven prisoners there at the time, but the taking of this fortress would be a huge step. The 954 people gathered outside the gates, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the cannons stationed on the wall, and the release of the prisoners and the gunpowder. Anticipating a response, the crowd's hopes rocketed when the governor admitted two negotiators. They stayed inside until noon, and then the people began to get restless and frustrated. Another half an hour later, the now furious mob charged the fortress. 

With whatever weapons the group could find, like a seething, unstoppable wave, they advanced, venting all their rage into this moment. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities describes this scene immaculately. "With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into the detested word, the living sea, wave on wave, depth on depth, and overflowed the city to the point. Alarm-bells ringing, drums beating, the sea raging and thundering on its new beach, the attack began. Deep ditches, double drawbridge, massive stone walls, eight great towers, cannon, muskets, fire and smoke. Through the fire and through the smoke-in the fire and in the smoke, for the sea cast him up against a cannon, and on the instant he became a cannonier..." By 3:00, new reinforcements came to the brave attackers; “gardes françaises,” who came along with two cannons, making the guards not the only ones with weapons.

Meanwhile, a substantial force of Royal Army troops were camped very nearby on the Champs de Mars, yet they didn't intervene. The fighting continued, a desperate reach for freedom, 954 courageous humans attacking an enormous fortress, the Bastille. 

Finally, at 5:30, July 14, 1789, Governor de Launay surrenders and opens the gates to the very inner courtyard, and the victorious mob swept into the core of the Bastille, concluding a successful yet hard-fought battle. 98 attackers died, and only one guard during the battle, but afterwards the people of the Third Estate took their revenge upon the guards, and killed many more. 

De Launay was dragged onto the streets from the fortress, and into a nearby tailor shop, where discussions about his fate began. Finally, he exclaimed, "Enough, let me die," but not before kicking an angry pastry chef named Dulait in the groin. Governor de Launay was repeatedly stabbed, shot, and kicked by the frothing, rabid, and furious mob, not yet satisfied with their victory. Finally, Bernard René de Launay's head was sawed off viciously, and triumphally set on a pike. The mob marched throughout the streets of Paris, showing off the beheaded face of the Governor, as well as the other dead guards.

Although this ending may seem unnecessarily violent, imagine a single man controlling your entire life, living above you, living with money and privileges, living a luxurious life while you starve on the streets. Living back then, you would have done the same! After the battle, the 954 heroes who stormed the Bastille would be forever remembered with the creation of an important holiday in France. Called Le Quatorze Juillet (14th of July), formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday), and called Bastille Day in English, it celebrates the storming of the Bastille and the act of the Third Estate against the higher government for a greater, overall good.

Monet's depiction of Bastille Day

My family and I traveled to France this year before our annual visit to Hungary. We first stayed in Paris for a couple of nights - I mean, if you go to France, who doesn't stop in Paris - and then traveled to Corsica (incidentally where Napoleon Bonaparte was born). We were in Paris from July 12 to July 16, so we had the luck of being there for Bastille Day. It's treated similarly to the Fourth of July here in the U.S., what with fireworks, parties, and dancing. Bastille Day is also celebrated in many countries, such as Hungary, New Zealand, Belgium, England, and even here in Portland! On Champs Élysées, thousands of seats are set up along the street, for the citizens to view the soldiers marching, and the long military parade. Also on Champs-Élysées, hundreds of flags are raised to celebrate the event, accompanied by spectacular fireworks by the Eiffel Tower. We didn't get to go see the parade, the crowds must have been overwhelming, but at home we lit some fireworks with our host family, which was also a lot of fun!

While we were in France, I learned how much France's history affects every-day life, yet how different living in Paris must have been from how it is now. No matter which estate you were or are in, no matter whether you were there for the storming of the Bastille or not, whether you live in France or in Uruguay, everyone can reflect and be amazed and affected by the French history in 1789; everybody can continue to be inspired by what drove those attackers, the same inspiration many of us draw from every single day.

Works Cited:

"Estates of the Realm." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

"The Estates." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Dickens, Charles, Hablot Knight Browne, and Frederick Barnard. A Tale of Two Cities,. New York: Dodd, Mead &, 1942. Print.

"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

"How Do You Pronounce Bastille?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Karpiel, Frank, Kathleen Krull, and Grant P. Wiggins. MyWorld History. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012.

My mom

My camera (the pictures at the end are mine)

"Storming of the Bastille." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

"The Three Estates." The Three Estates. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Some pictures from our visit to France: 

The beach in Corsica

The view from our little house in Corsica

Paris as seen from the Eiffel Tower (The line is so long!)

The Seine River as seen from the Eiffel Tower

Storytelling 2.0

     There have been many different versions of storytelling throughout time.  It is one of the ways that we communicate and learn from one another.  The most basic form is simply through the words of another person, as they weave words into imagery.  I always think back to when I was very young and my mother would tell stories to my brother and I.  One of my favorites was the story of the Three Little Pigs.  My mom would change her voice for the different characters and interact with us as the story went on.  It created a lasting memory.

   
     I was reminded how powerful storytelling can be during the summer when I was in class at the University of Portland.  As part of one of my graduate classes, my classmates and I shared stories about our diverse and unique life experiences.  One of my classmates, Gabe, has an uncanny ability to hold the attention of everyone in the room with his words.  I’ll never forget how he was telling us a story of his time in Japan.  When he finished his story, half the class had to take a break and leave the room.  His words permeated throughout the air and affected us so deeply.  

     During the same semester, I also became engrossed in expanding my knowledge of using technology in the classroom.  Not being an Apple person, I purchased an Android tablet.  My use of that device lasted all of about three weeks.  I became frustrated with its’ interface and I was having issues with the screen.  I decided to break down and trade it in for the new, at the time, iPad 3.  To say that I have become an iPad fan would be an understatement.

     While exploring the uses of the iPad for use in the classroom, I came across Kathy Schrock’s website.  I became both ecstatic and engrossed with the myriad of possibilities that this device could offer students and teachers in the classroom.  Her page, Bloomin’ Apps, incorporating Bloom’s Taxonomy and device apps is mind blowing.  During my exploration of that page I came across the process of digital storytelling and how it can be used with students to help them explore and gain knowledge.  The idea of combining the art of storytelling with technology in the classroom got me extremely excited, and I knew that I had to explore this concept even more. Being able to put visuals such as images, maps, and charts, together with storytelling creates a much more in depth experience that involves and stimulates more of one's multiple intelligences.

     In the midst of my exploration, I felt like a digital Indiana Jones, I came across an app for the iPad, and other iOS devices, called Puppet Pals.  This was my Sivalinga stone, Holy Grail, and Ark of the Covenant all in one.  This app could allow for students to explore, construct, and learn with ease.  After buying the the Director’s Pass for only $2.99 I could create a digital story about any subject I wanted.  The most exciting part for me was that I could incorporate myself, friends, family, and more importantly history into my stories.  With the Director’s Pass I now had the ability to research tell a historical story with ease.  The app allows you to take, or import pictures, from your iPad and make them part of your story. Being a visual learner myself, digital storytelling allows me to experience history in a new and exciting way.

     After seeing the movie Lincoln, I decided to explore the Civil War through my own digital story.  The Puppet Pals app gave me a welcoming interface and environment to express some of my ideas and thoughts about the Civil War.  This is what I came up with.

     During the course of the Revolutions! unit, students will be creating their own digital stories using the iPad and the Puppet Pals app.  As I transition to the next step of my student teaching at Catlin Gabel, I will be coaching the students on how to use the app, and how to create their own historical digital story.  I believe that the process of digital storytelling will create excitement, intrigue, exploration, and growth in both the students and me.


Pictures courtesy of:
http://www.watchthisspace.ca/pixelpost/images/20070825165040_around_the_fire_wales.jpg
http://www.indianajones.com/site/enlarge.html?filePath=media/photos/large/991130-photo-55.jpg

Social Networking 

I am in the middle of a class project that requires me to spend much time on my computer.  With 43 total assignments, we have to type research and communicate through the Internet and computers. This much computer time is unhelpful for me because I get easily distracted checking my email, Facebook, Skype or YouTube.  These sites, yet fun, stop me from putting 100% effort into my work. I spend about 2 hours of ‘homework’ a night, or so I think, when really half of that being distracted by Facebook.

When I am really into my homework, then decide to go onto a social networking site, the
thought and interaction suddenly goes away. The sites are a trap, once on, never off. If I
carry on with my homework once I have been on one of these sites, it’s hard to
concentrate when I know that Facebook is just a click away from what I am doing.
It’s nice having homework that can be worksheets or reading books, then I do not have
to run into this trouble, but being in seventh grade at Catlin Gabel with all the electronic
work, this is rare. I am happy when I can get all my work done quickly after concentration
and good work because then, I can go on Facebook and watch TV without any
homework hanging over my head.

It’s nice having homework that can be worksheets or reading books, then I do not have to run into this trouble, but being in seventh grade at Catlin Gabel with all the electronic work, this is rare. I am happy when I can get all my work done quickly after concentration and good work because then, I can go on Facebook and watch TV without any homework hanging over my head.

Most of my nights, after sports games or practices I spend my
time doing homework until I go to sleep. I get bored and watch
TV or do something else, which takes an even longer time to get
my homework finished. A good solution that I have found is
leaving my computer in a different room, when I know all of my
electronic homework is finished. I could also print things I need
to do that are accessible on the computer so I don’t have to run
into any distractions. This way I am not tempted to go on sites
away from my homework.

When I ask my friends about this problem, most of them have mutual feelings about this ‘problem’. They feel like when they tell their parents they are doing ‘homework’, they are usually on the computer doing something other than homework. I don't like when my mom nags me to do my homework when watching TV or having fun on the computer, but now that I think about it, when I listen to her I have finished homework quickly and with more concentration to make the quality of my homework better. I have found that doing homework that doesn't require a computer in another, quieter part of the house helps me get homework done with more effort because I don't have the distractions of my computer in my room. I get stressed easily but I feel this stress comes from doing things at night that are less important than school work and having little time to do the things that really matter. This makes me anxious that I will never get that work in on time or have enough time to do it, like in the Revolutions project.

I like having the freedom to do my own research on the Internet for the Revolutions project and finding out the facts by myself. Older kids that I have talked to have found that having a limited time a night on Facebook is helpful or even deleting it altogether if you are working on a large project that requires much effort, like the Revolutions project can be helpful too.

For me, working on the computer to do homework electronically  can be fun but also can take you away from the work that you are supposed to be doing. This is because of the distractions that social networking sites can cause and are a time-wasting trap.  For the Revolutions project we have a lot of work electronically and this makes it hard for me to get work done when having these sites a click away.

Computers; Good or Bad?

52 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls reported their average time spent on the computer to be above 42 hours per week. Most teenagers spend 30 hours per week in front of computer screens. Wow, that means about four hours everyday. Many teens are awake sixteen out of twenty-four hours a day. And teenagers go to school for about seven hours everyday, which leaves nine hours for free-time. And if they spend four hours out of nine on the computer, that means that 45% of their free time is on computers. I feel like most people in these ‘studies’ are different from the kids here at Catlin Gabel, or maybe its just me. Because we are a school where work takes priority over social status. Because we are a private school most of us who go here really want to make the most of our education. Not many students here play video games until one in the morning or stay up on Facebook, but some do. And I am guessing that in the Middle School, Here at Catlin, we are very advanced in technology, we have many nice computer carts, smart boards in almost every classroom (if there are on smart boards in the classrooms then there is a projector), but most of all, everything can be done on the computer. Especially homework. I spend about one to three hours on homework every school day. And most of it can be done on the computer. Also, there is also subjects like math, where you have handouts and textbooks that do not involve computers. I feel like once I get on to my computer, it takes at least an hour to get off it.I check emails, look on the web for current events, find the weather, and of course feed my chi-chi pet (a virtual pet that you feed and it grows). Even if my homework is supposed to take one hour, I might get distracted and spend twice as much time as I planned. I don’t even have a social network, which I know are very time consuming. Many people think that more homework on the computer is better, but I believe that less is better. Why? Because it would benefit the kids by taking less time so we wouldn’t get distracted, and the teachers because they  could assign more (I’m sorry fellow classmates). I propose that teachers give less homework on computers, and more on worksheets to prevent loss of time. A teacher may ask, “But it’s your responsibility!” I would reply and tell them about our generation and how some people’s lives are around the computer. I don’t agree that no homework should be on the computers, I just think that it should be more balanced. I was surprised when I saw that ‘52 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls reported their average time spent on the computer to be above 42 hours per week.’ I feel like I spend no more than 12! The crazy thing I heard was that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend only using to two hours per day on screens. My analogy is that the more screen time people get, makes them have less time for athletics. And that makes people more overweight. Then they are grumpy because they spend so much time on computers and don’t sleep. That makes the kids sleepy in class, and they would have a shorter attention span for homework at night. My conclusion is that too much homework on the computer can really back stab. I think that we kids at Catlin Gabel are not doing those actions (in my analogy) but sometimes I feel like that nights homework should only take me one hour, but it ends up being about three hours. I think that the ratio of computer homework to homework not on the computer should be about 2-1. But now for me it’s about 4-1. Me and my friends are not video gaming addicts, or people that don’t sleep because they are on Facebook, but I am disappointed because I always get lost in my own world when I am on the Internet. 
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCK6K2ISTuv0seBelXyi72LM-bPhyVdFs5bXk3k-QlKpnJI-PS
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920123552.htm

History of Photography

Nowadays we are always taking pictures. We like to capture the moments so that we never forget them. We now can post them on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. Being a teen especially, I love to take photos. No one thinks anything about snapping a picture on your iPhone or iPod. Sometimes you have to step back and think, “Where did photography first come from?” because it used to be a long, boring process to take just one photo.
The first photo was taken in 1826 by Joseph Niepce. His photographs were taken by on a polished pewter plate covered with a petroleum derivative which he then dissolved in white petroleum.  Bitumen hardens with exposure to light. The unhardened material was then be washed away and the metal plate polished, making a positive image.
This is the first picture ever taken. It’s the view outside the window at Le Gras in France 1825

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The first portrait picture ever taken

During the Industrial Revolution time, the want for portraits grew in the middle class. More and more people wanted to say that they had their very own picture.In 1847 Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky designed a camera that improved the ability to focus a camera. Some of the same focusing techniques are still in use today. He also brought up the popular idea to put decorative things in the background of the photo. He worked on the quality of the photo, and putting people into different poses for their photo.

During the mid nineteenth century, photographers started to capture stories and landscape. More and more people wanted to get their picture taken. The prices of the photos were from 50 cents to 10 dollars.Artists started to make art shows of entirely photography. In the first twenty years of photography being around, is when the most development happened. In 1884 George Eastman invented dry gel on paper so the photographer no longer had to carry around plates and toxic chemicals. In July of 1888 Kodak released a camera that people could buy. Now anyone could take a picture.

The advancement of photography began to boom and cameras became easier and easier to use.  They still continue to get better quality. Some cameras are touch screen and on some you can even upload pictures and videos straight to YouTube or Facebook. The invention of photography is a great addition to our modern life.

Sources:

http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography