The thing that stands out to me the most from the book or the book conversations was probably the fact that different cultures, time periods, races can revolve around different things, different possessions or ideas.
The thing I learned from the book was that, if you get something you really wanted or really needed, it can change you. It can change everything about you, from the way you act to what you say to who you are. You need to be careful if you get that thing that you want, it could become who you are and you could lose sight of everything that’s actually important.
What I learned from that has taught me that I need to be careful about things that can be very important. It has showed me that some people can be succumbed to possessions or ideas, they can be controlled by it. Sometimes when somebody does something it’s because something changed them. I’ve also learned that it’s not always the people you’d asume to fall for something. It can be the people you thought could stay strong.
The thought of the question was a little crazy. Anything I could ever have? Realistic or not? What to choose, what to choose. Really, I wouldn’t want a unicorn; too normal. Then the thought of being able to have bright colored hair that grows that color out my head came to mind; too simple. Other crazy thoughts have come to my head, but none seeming what I would want, they were jokes; little ideas. Crazy, but small. If I could have anything in the world I would want a time machine, well maybe. That’s what I decided. It’s like the first thing that came into my head that makes sense. But seriously, how cool would it be to be able to travel back or forward in time? You could visit all the different places. You could learn so much more. It’d be really cool. Or go forward in time, see what everything is coming to. I guess it could also be kinda scary. The idea that you could see any point in time, whether in the future or in the past. Scary, but really neat.
There are a number of things that could happen if I had a time machine. You know, like the simple, same-old idea that you would screw up the time-space-continuum and then ruin all of the future ahead. Or the simple thought that you could get stuck back in time. Not that that’s likely. There’s also the small idea that you could possibly mess everything up so bad that you’d make it so you’d never been born, never existed and then you would slowly fade away to nothing. Hmm… I wonder how that’d work. You know, slowly fading away to nothing? I wonder how that would turn out.
I read an article about a man, named Hugo Teso, who invented an app that could control an airplane. At the Hack in the Box security summit in Amsterdam, Hugo Teso said he spent three years developing a series of codes that could hack a airplanes security software and all it needed to run was an Android phone. He calls this app PlaneSploit. Teso showed how it worked on a flight simulator. It has the ability to change the speed, lights in the cabin, what’s on the display screen, altitude, direction, and possibly the destination. Teso claims that “Current security systems don’t have strong enough authentication methods to make sure commands are coming from a legitament source.” He said he developed it in a way that it only works in virtual simulations not on the real thing. Teso said that he has contacted the companies whose systems he’s exploited and they are working on the problems.
I thought that what Hugo Teso made was very interesting; that he could use his skills to help make air-traffic safer. I also think it’s kind of scary that someone can develop an app that could cause a lot of danger to the airplane and the people on it. It’s crazy how technology has come this far. It’s scary, though, that it could be used for controlling the plane and I hope that the air companies work very hard at beating these codes that can be put into apps.
From our senate session I was kind of surprised how all the “small” jobs worked with the “big” jobs to create our country; you couldn’t do certain things without having other things done first. Some of the things that seemed not as important really did make a difference in how our country worked and how it would continue to work.
I learned that our class can really work together to bring everything together and we need each other to work things out. I also learned that in our government they need everybody with all different jobs to work. You can’t just work with certain people, certain jobs. For example: you can’t do banking without there being income from other jobs, you can’t do roads without the explorers, you can’t decide where to put certain industries without knowing the capitol or you can’t figure out what taxes are needed without knowing about the roads and the army.
I have to say some of my favorite parts of the senate session were coming to an answer that most others liked and some of the job presentations. I also kind of liked some of the debates, just because we worked together to figure out what to do for that piece of the country.
There were a few things that surprised me in the information that I found. I thought it was interesting that in Cuba for the legislative branch it was a unicameral National Assembly of People’s Power. So, it was like influenced by the people. Also, in Cuba, they had a People’s Supreme Court. I’m wondering if that means that there is more of the people’s opinions, but I’m not sure how that would work. It also interesting that North Korea didn’t have any political parties, but I guess that makes sense with having a dictatorship. It was also surprising that some of the countries were under the queen’s rule even though they were an independent country.
I guess, I just realized once again about how diverse the whole world is. As a little kid all you know is the US and you kind of think that everywhere else is, but it’s not. Especially with studying the different types of government it just made me realize that everywhere is different. I learned more about the different types of government and the different ways of leading a country. It’s all really unique; your country could be lead by a queen or a president or a dictator and all the countries are different.
For science we created volcanoes out of clay to replicate real-life volcanoes. We chose the volcano- Cerro Azul in Chile. It’s a stratovolcano. In the one picture from the back of our volcano, you can see the inside. Like the magma chamber and the central vent. On the other image, you can see the volcano from the front. We have the lave flow down the side and the large crater on top. From the crater, the pop bottle will explode, demonstrating a violent eruption. The mento/coke explosion will go and will run down the side in a lava flow, spraying boulders and cinders like a real eruption. You can also see the forrest and lake, that will show like what happens to surrounding areas when a volcano explodes.
Peggielene, Peggy, Bartels had been a secretary in the Ghanaian Embassy in the United States for around 30 years. One late night in 2008, Peggy got a phone call from a relative in Ghana saying that she was now the king of Otuam. She thought it was a joke but it was true. The previous king of Otuam was her uncle and he had recently passed away; since the village elders had known about Peggy from her visits, they anointed her the new ruler. Peggy accepted kingship. She now lives two very different lives in the US and Ghana. In the US, Peggy is still a secretary, taking phones calls and doing everything for herself. She lives in a small apartment. Though, in Ghana, Peggy lives in a palace with people who want to do everything for her. She gets bowed down to and wears a crown. Peggy took the title king because it’s the official title for the ruler of Otuam and because she can achieve more with that title. Over the past few years, King Peggy has helped poor families with school costs, provided the first ambulance with some help, and brought computers to classrooms. She hopes to get state-of-the-art toilets in Otuam soon as well. There was a book written on her story and next year there may be a movie.
I thought that this story was very unique. A secretary becoming a king in Ghana. I thought it was cool that Peggy accepted that position and has done all she can to help out in Otuam, I’m glad that she’s improving that place. I hope that she can continue to do that. I also thought it was interesting that Peggy’s doing both of her jobs, secretary and king. She didn’t decide to stop her secretary job and just be king, she’s both. This story helps prove that everyone has a place in this world and everyone has a story. I think it also proves that something great can happen to anyone.
Juliette and Emma’s presentation on whether or not to celebrate Columbus Day.
In my presentation I did a pretty good job of speaking loudly and clearly, along with that, I did look at the audience at some points. Though, I didn’t use much expression and it looked like I was reading off the paper.
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