Thursday, April 26, 2018

Infinity War Deadpool By Robert Cohan


Avengers: Infinity War  is probably one of the most anticipated movies of all time, but one thing people on the internet keep guessing about is who will die in it. And seeing as it comes out tomorrow, it’s time to throw my hat into the ring, so here are my picks for who will die and why.
Captain America: Cap has always been the leader of the team, but even more importantly has always been willing to sacrifice himself for the rest of the team. Another point is that he is holding back Thanos’ hand in one of the trailers and I believe that may be his last heroic act.
Hawkeye: Hawkeye has always been a sort of joke Avenger. He doesn’t have any special powers and of all weapons he uses a BOW! I just doubt that someone like Hawkeye can survive Infinity War. Also he doesn’t seem to be in any of the trailers or the poster leading me to believe an early death.
Loki: Loki is one of the best villains to ever grace the big screen, which is why it’s time for him to retire. I also believe if doesn’t die when he gives the power stone to Thanos he will be a repeat of Scurge from Thor Ragnorok.
Vision: I think it’s pretty much a guarantee that Vision dies. I mean he has an infinity stone IN HIS HEAD! And I don’t think Doctor Strange will die because of the time stone in the eye of agomoto, I think strange will die in Infinity War part 2.
And that’s everyone I think that’s going to kick-the-bucket in Avengers: Infinity War. Also one person who I think is completely safe is Spider-Man. The MCU just got spidey, they’re not going to kill him off right after-wards.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Wondering by Steven Roberts

when we were kids we wondered a lot and we probably keep wondering about a lot of things. Some things i wondered about as a kid was like an ant pile and how many tunnels it has or how many ants are actually in it, and i also sometimes looked up at the sky at night and looked at all the stars and wondered how many planets and suns there actually are. But now all the things i wonder about are like what kind of job do i want to have or what college i want to have, and there is plenty more that i wonder about. What do you wonder about sometimes?

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Victory Royal By Robert Cohan


So Fortnite, if you haven’t been living under rock for the past few months you would have heard of it. But for you rock dwellers there is a post about the game on this blog all about it because I won’t be explaining a thing about the game. So now that you’re back from that post we are going to focus on the battle royal portion of the game or more specifically, its effects on its players. So almost every media outpost desperately clawing for a scoop has being saying Fornite makes kids aggressive and violent! Of course some parents who have kids playing the game are taking everything these shows, blogs and videos are saying as fact without any look into it. This why we are here today, see the thing is, these shows, blogs and videos are saying Fortnite is bad without doing any research into it, if they did they’d find that there is no real evidence to support this. The real reason you see aggression in people who play the game is because that’s how the game is played, it is in fact almost comparable to war, you don’t see people in war with each other going around prancing through flower fields do you? No, you see them out on the battle field aggressively fighting. The same can be said for Fortnite and any other first/third person shooter battle royal game, you aren’t going to win by playing passive, you’ve got to be aggressive. Another reason people who play Fortnite are more aggressive is not because of the game, it’s because they already have that aggression and Fortnite is more appealing to them, whereas people who are very peaceful and calm prefer different games. And for people who do actually have a level of aggression that can cause them to harm others, Fortnite can act as a sort of stress ball. In conclusion Fortnite is not some evil game that makes people more violent, and in some cases in can be very beneficial to the player.
Also click this link for the video I got quite a bit of my evidence from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgV5OX9sKao

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

If Time Had Frozen 30 Years Ago by Autumn Snow


Let's face the facts here. Life in 2018 isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Now, life in general is another story (in some situations), but honestly, the past ten or so years have been pretty darn . . . well . . . boring.
Depression and anxiety rates are higher than ever before, as well as teen suicide (which is almost always linked to depression). Of course, these things have been going on since the beginning of time, but if you look back 20+ years ago, such occurrences were fewer and farther in between.
Take the 80's. Man, do I wish I had lived to see the 80's. I feel like they should have taken the "Roaring" out of the 20's and put it in the 80's instead. Of course, I have no personal experiences from this time era, but it's far more interesting to me than the modern day. This decade was filled with iconic movies (Steel Magnolias, baby), amazing music (Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Barbara Mandrell, Bonnie Raitt, etc.), and just about everything that has ever been appealing to me. But this is us, we're talking about. This is the statistics of the world, so let's get back to it. Though technology has advanced a significant amount over the past few decades, it's hard to say whether it's for the better or not. I mean, we already had the television, the radio (aka the pinnacle of happiness), the telephone (sorry, kids, no iPhones in the 80's), and so on. Did we really need all of the same things in "better" forms? I think not. Twenty/thirty years ago, people used the telephone to call people and talk to them. Texting had not been invented until 1984, and the first text message had not officially been sent until 1992. Even then, texting on cellular phones wasn't utilized regularly until the early 2000s. There was no YouTube, no PlayStation, no Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. So what in the world did kids from about a generation ago do? Whatever did they come up with to entertain their young, impressionable minds? Well, there was always music. "Summer of '69" would probably have been blaring through the speakers of your cassette player while you did your homework. During the day, you might have tried to catch Full House or Growing Pains on the box television in your living room. The thought of doing something "more interesting" like watching cat videos on YouTube or scrolling through the newsfeed on your social media account would never have crossed your mind because such things had not yet come into existence. And you would have been absolutely fine.
My personal opinion on the modern day is pretty negative, but again, it's just my opinion. I (personally) think that, 30 years ago, the world had most everything it needed to be the convenient world it had already become. Now, things have gone so far that technology and such have become quite inconvenient in most aspects. The cellphone has become man's best (and only) friend, the internet can be a dangerous, dangerous place if one isn't careful, television certainly isn't what it used to be, and I could go on. So, the gist of this post is more a question made from an observation rather than the answer to the problem. And we all know we've asked this question ourselves once or twice when dwelling in the deepest and most profound areas of our thoughts. And that question is . . .
Dude, if we're so technologically advanced and stuff in this modern time, then why hasn't somebody gotten around to inventing a time machine yet?


Thursday, April 12, 2018

Under The Sea! By Robert Cohan


Recently a well-loved, highly anticipated game has had its full release. I am, of course, talking about Subnautica. Subnautica (by Unknown Worlds Entertainment) is a game where you are crewman aboard the spaceship The Aurora, until it got shot down by a giant alien laser canon. You are the only survivor (except for the 16 other survivors who died on the planet). You must find a way to survive by keeping up your food, water, health and air. Yes air, because well I hope you like swimming! Because this planet is 95% water, but don’t worry you can build structures, vehicles and oxygen tanks. You want to know what else is great about this planet, most of its inhabitants are trying to kill you! But hey your great at living, you’ve been doing it for years, so you survive and even thrive! And now you have a disease with no cure. TOO BAD! So now you must go on your quest to be cured of carar (the disease), get of this planet and find a Markiplier doll (yes it’s a real thing in game). So good luck and watch out for reaper leviathans!

What happened to Destiny? by Grayson Perry


Destiny is a very popular video game series on console that recently expanded to PC. The first game, simply titled Destiny, was released in 2014 and was a massive success that revolutionized gaming due to its combination of the FPS (first person shooter) and RPG/MMO (role playing game/massive multiplayer online) genres. Upon its initial release, it received mixed reviews because of the lackluster story telling in the campaign. However, the reviews grew more positive after release of a few DLC, which dramatically changed the game multiple times, and received astounding reviews from many game critics. Destiny acquired a total of 4 DLC expansions over a span of 3 years, 2014-2016, which kept the game alive for 4 years.
This 4-year span was cut off by Destiny 2, the sequel to Destiny that continued the story of our character. This game was released in late 2017, and many fans from the original Destiny purchased it with high hopes. The marketing team did very well with getting the game noticed, from commercials during a football game to merchandise on shelves of everyday stores. But what ever happened to this game?  
Not many reviews on the game have been positive lately, and the developers of Destiny are looking to change that. Upon D2’s initial release, it was considered by some to be more successful than the entirety of Destiny, but that has changed in a few short months. The game has only had 1 DLC expansion so far, with another promised sometime this spring. This 1st DLC was highly criticized, with only 4 ½ hours of gameplay in the campaign, which is less than half than that of D2’s original story. Not to mention that the new planet players are allowed to explore is very restricted and doesn’t allow much more gameplay than what’s in the short campaign. All of this with a $20 price tag. Most loyal Destiny fans, including myself, are hurt by this.
Players have been suggesting that Bungie, the developers of Destiny, should have not made a new game. Rather, they should have continued to add DLC and update the original game. In it’s prime, Destiny 2 was popular across Twitch and YouTube, getting millions of views on videos such as gameplay moments, tips, and lore theory videos. Today, the game is merely a thing of the past, and not a thought that comes to mind when one thinks about popular video games. Like most movie and video game sequels today, Destiny would have been better with no sequel at all, but we cannot change the past.
Thankfully Bungie is listening to the community and making changes to the game that are needed. Many updates have been released helping the game in a major way and are reviving the community. Players have started to return to this once beloved game, enjoying D2 for the first time in months. With these returning players, a new expansion set to release soon, and constant updates, hopefully we will be able to see Destiny 2 in all of its glory.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

How Senioritis Affects Me by Spencer Ward

Let's first start out with the fact that this "disease" is a thing that affects all seniors. I am just letting you all know that the way it affects me. So let us dig right into this topic.

In my everyday life, I get distracted by my phone. The first thing I realized was when I was on a game. So to try and fix that problem I was having I deleted all of the games I own. I will be trying not to get on any other games whether it be Fortnight or PubG. No matter the circumstances.

Henceforth and forevermore I Spencer Ward will try not to get distracted with so much of these trivial things. I will try and get out of the Senioritis zone. Moreover not to get sucked back into the life of the gamers. Not that that is a sin. But it is indeed a distraction to some like me.

Oh yeah, and look at the time I posted this. I definitely have what everyone calls senioritis.

---Spencer Ward

How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking by Allyson Reyna


There will most likely be a point in your life in which you will have to public speak. This may be for a class presentation, a wedding toast, or a banquet. Whatever the case may be, you should always be ready to speak in front of others. However, fear sometimes gets in the way of confidence which intervenes with the overall message you are attempting to tell. To combat that fear, here are some ways to overcome your fear of public speaking…

·      Organize and preparation are key to a good speech. When your materials are organized it helps you to relax and stay calm. The reduction of anxiety is made by keeping your thoughts clear and organized. Make sure you do not procrastinate because this is a speech. A speech must have a good amount of preparation time which includes practice time.

·         Practice. Practice. Practice. Without practice, your speech will never be up to par. Practice in front of the mirror, by recording yourself, or saying it in front of others you trust. Then practice again. But don’t over practice because this could cause a rigidness in your speech and a fumbling in your words since you did not say it the way you practiced it. Keep your speech flowing nicely and casually but not memorized word for word. This is done by an immense amount of practicing.

·         Keep your speech rhythmic and flowing cohesively. By establishing a good speaking pattern, your fear will be decreased since you have an overall tone which goes hand in hand with one another. When your tone is broken up by differences this increases anxiety since it is not unified. We are creatures of habit which flows into sameness, even in our speaking. This means we must obtain a pattern which flows throughout the duration of the speech.  

·         Do not worry what others may think. This is easier said than done and you have probably heard this more times than you can count. However, it is an extremely important aspect to speaking. When worry enters your mind, words become fumbled and disordered. For the entirety of your speech, the elimination of fear and rejection must be completely extracted from your mind. Confidence is key when speaking. Just know that you having the courage to speak in the first place will ultimately lead you into the courage you need to complete your speech.

Friday, April 6, 2018

Pacific Rim Uprising Review by Grayson Perry

Before we start, obviously there are major spoilers to both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim Uprising.

I recently went to see Pacific Rim Uprising, and that was a mistake. I remember when the original movie released back in 2013, and it was beautiful. The thought of giant robots fighting monsters to save the world sparked my young imagination. Not to mention that the score for the movie (soundtrack, music) was composed to perfection by Ramin Djawadi. The movie had a consistent plot and did not stray from it. The movie was based around a “rift” that allowed skyscraper sized monsters, nicknamed Kaiju, to come to our world from another dimension, and the human race had to come together to close the rift. To combat these monsters, they built Jaegers, skyscraper sized robots that would kill these monsters to prevent them from causing mass extinction. The Jaegers required two pilots to sync brains in a process called Neural Handshake, once done the robot would copy the movements of the pilots. The head of the Jaeger program, Stacker Pentecost, enlists the help of Raleigh Becket, an ex-Jaeger pilot who has retired to rebuilding cities, to help his close the rift. They plan on entering the rift and detonating a nuclear bomb to close it for good. They are successful but lose almost all of the Jaegers and Jaeger pilots in the process, including Pentecost. The original movie was simple and brilliant and I immediately bought it on DVD when it came out. You can remember the names of the characters and robots, the most popular bring Gypsy Danger.


Uprising picks up 10 years later, with Pentecost’s son as the protagonist. I find this odd as Pentecost never mentioned he even had a son, and cared more about a girl he found on the streets in the first movie. The son, Jake Pentecost, was kicked out of the Jaeger pilot program by his father when he was younger. He gets arrested and has the choice of going to jail or re-enlist in the Jaeger pilot program. He chooses to re-enlist and becomes the leader/instructor of a group of young teens. During this, a rouge Jaeger attacks a city, which is barely stopped by Jake and another pilot. The rouge Jaeger attacks a second time, when it is destroyed by Jake and the other pilot. They discover that the Jaeger doesn’t have pilots, rather it has the brain of a Kaiju. The world is then attacked by many Jaeger/Kaiju and decimates the world’s defenses, including killing many veteran pilots. In the process, the Jaeger/Kaiju open several rifts and allow Kaiju to pass through. The Jaeger/Kaiju are then destroyed due to someone hacking their “Jaeger” parts and causing them to self-destruct. Three Kaiju successfully make it through the rifts and start headed towards Japan. Apparently (and I use that word VERY loosely) the Kaiju in the first movie had one target, Mount Fuji. They were trying to mix their blood with the “rare earth materials” in Mount Fuji to cause an explosion that would activate a chain reaction on the ring of fire. This is unrealistic because all of the Kaiju in the first movie took separate paths, and some would take forever to reach Mount Fuji, because of their EXTEMELY indirect paths. Because of all of the veteran Jaeger pilots being dead or critically injured, they enlist the help of the teens that Jake is in charge of. The teens all pilot a group of Jaegers and try to stop the Kaiju in Japan. They are very unsuccessful and many of the teens die, who we barely got to know. The three Kaiju them morph into one super Kaiju and face Jake’s Jager alone. Jake looses and his Jager is damaged horribly. They then come up with a plan to use one of the rockets that the Jaegers used to catch up to the Kaiju, which is almost at the top of Mount Fuji. They use the rocket, blast off into the sky, and use gravity to hurl towards the Kaiju. They eject, and the Jaeger collides with the Kaiju, killing it. The End.

Time for everything I hate about this movie. My biggest complaint is that Raleigh from the first move, doesn’t even show up. His name is not even mentioned, even though he saved the entire world. He was humorous, which added a little light-heartedness to the first movie. The second movie had SO MANY STUPID TEEN JOKES that I wanted to jump off a Jaeger and commit Kaiju-cide. Even the dead meme song “troll-lol-lol” made it into the movie. There were so many “empowered teen” moments in it, which is strange because they got their butts handed to them during the fight. There were middle fingers, which is childish. There were a few mentions of feminine parts, obviously they didn’t respec women. The fight scene was shorter than Tom Cruise, which was what the movie was about in the first place. They killed off main characters from the first movie without regret. They couldn’t even keep their own plot together. At the beginning of the movie, someone mentions that people are building their own Jaegers to prepare for the next Kaiju, but those Jaegers never showed up. I thought it would’ve been a neat idea to have a group of rag-tag Jaegers come in to save the day when the other Jaegers were destroyed. Nope. Never happened. And the thing that I was most upset about (besides original characters not showing up) is that in the first movie, the Jaegers and Kaiju seemed huge because of the awesome scenes on ground level looking up at them fighting. I didn’t have that same feeling. The Jaegers and Kaiju in this movie just seemed like oversized toys. If you were to ask me the names of main characters, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. In the first movie they even named the Kaiju… which I don’t think happened in Uprising. They didn’t even bother to bring back the original composer from the first movie… disappointing. Looking at this movie as a whole, I’d give it 5 out of 10 toppled skyscrapers. This movie just didn’t deliver, as all sequels, and I truly hope there will be a 3rd movie to fix this mess.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Dasterdly Double Dimensions By Robert Cohan


As I said in my last post there is much more to Minecraft than I talked about. In the over world there are structures and mobs that I didn’t talk about, but what I’m talking about today is The Nether and The End. The Nether is a whole new dimension from the over world. It is filled with lava, from lava lakes, lava falls, even lava in the walls. It also brings a whole new realm of blocks: Nether Rack, Soul Sand, Nether Quartz, Magma Blocks and Nether Brick. But what is really exciting are the mobs: Zombie Pigman, completely passive till you hit them at which point all in the vicinity attack, Blaze, shoot fire balls, drop blaze rods which are useful for getting to the End, Whither Skeletons, when they hit you they give you the whither effect which damages you every 2 seconds and Ghasts, shoot deflectable explosive fireballs and are massive. Now you might be asking “Why would I go to this place?”, well remember how I mentioned blaze rods and The End? Well using crafting and other things that are a bit too complicated for this, you find a structure called a stronghold and go through a portal that’s there, you are now in the End. It’s mostly home to Endermen whom you probably have already seen (the tall black guys with purple eyes, but don’t look into them!), but there is something….. else. I won’t ruin the surprise so all I can say is take out the things on the towers and good luck. Even if you do defeat Her (yes it’s a her, it has an egg) this world is never out of things to explore.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

73 Blocks Down By Robert Cohan


Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 6 years, you probably know what Minecraft is. But for those of you who have been living under a rock (or just avoiding the whole thing) here’s Minecraft in a nutshell. Minecraft has 2 main modes of play, Survival and Creative, first will talk about creative. While in creative you can fly, are invincible and have unlimited access to infinite of everything, this mode is usually used to build and test stuff without having to gather the materials. Survival on the other hand is about surviving! You accomplish this by gather materials by chopping down trees, mining, crafting, mining, smelting, mining, farming and did I forget mining (Well it is called MINEcraft). But don’t go out at night, because monsters are out! Monsters consist of Zombies: Slow, rely on melee and come in baby form, Skeletons: also kind of slow, ranged attacks and are incredibly accurate, Spiders: fastish, melee attacking, and come in poisonous cave form and finally Creepers: slowish, employs the suicide bomber technique and comes a charged form with a more powerful explosion. But how do you stop these foul creatures you ask, well I was getting to that! There are 2 different things to think about when fighting mobs, armor and weapons. Armor comes in 4 different varieties, helmet, leggings, chest plate and boots, and it also comes in 4 different types (ignoring gold, because you never make armor or weapons out of gold), leather is the worst armor being that it protects you the least and breaks the fastest, chain is only a little better than leather and is way harder to get being that you have to kill a mob wearing chain and it has to drop off them, iron is probably the armor that you’ll have for the longest being that the only better one is really hard to get that being diamond which is just the best, but you need a lot of diamonds (which are kind of hard to find). Weaponry is also an essential part of surviving being (ranked in the same order as armor) wood, stone, iron and diamond. Now you know the very basics of Minecraft, but there is still a lot more in this world to explore.

Click on This Link by Amy Yarbrough

I have a link I really want to share with y'all.

Check it out down below!

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Today's top 6 free games on the App Store by Grayson Perry


Gaming is huge in todays culture, and recently, popular console titles are making their way on to our phones. People who game on their mobile devices can have just as much fun as console players because of the growing accessibility. Today we will be looking at today’s top 6 free games available on the App Store.



1)     Fortnite. Fortnite is a 100 player battle-royale with building mechanics that originated on Xbox, Playstation, and PC. Fortnite is exploding in its player base because of their recent expansion to mobile devices. The game is currently an “invite event” which means that players who download the game will have to wait a few days to be able to play. But there is something unique about Fortnite mobile that makes it stand out from other mobile games, the ability to play online with console players. Not only that, if you play on console, the game saves your progress and allows you to play on the same account on your mobile device. Pretty impressive if you ask me. The game is off to a rocky start, but immediately dominates the App Store.



2)     PUBG Mobile. PUBG Mobile is a 100 player battle-royale game with one of the biggest maps in the battle-royale genre. PUBG recently followed Fortnite in their quest to dominate mobile devices by branching from PC, to Xbox, and now to Mobile. PUBG Mobile isn’t as popular as Fortnite on the App Store because of the inability to play on the same profile one may already have spent time and money on. They also cannot play with people who are on console from their mobile devices, which is what most of the people who download this app want to do. All in all, it runs smoothly and contains just as much fun as the console and PC versions have.





3)     Rise Up. Rise Up is just a time-passing game in which players are tasked with getting to level 1000 while protecting a balloon. You must use a shield to protect your balloon from popping while it rises. While this game is free, it gets very repetitive, with not much to do. This game is just a challenge between friends to see who can get the higher score.



4)     Flip the Gun – Simulator Game. Flip the gun is by the creators of Bowmasters (remember those annoying ads about that game?). The game tasks you with getting a high score, like Rise Up. Each time you fire one of the many guns available, you are propelled upwards. The goal is to get as high up as possible before running out of ammo. Just as Rise Up, this game has little replay ability and is really just another time waster.





5)     Helix Jump. Helix Jump is another time waster game, and you can start to see the trend of time wasters on the App Store. Helix Jump tasks you with falling through multiple floors to reach the end of a level. Each level gets more difficult as you progress. As the past two games, this game is a competition to see who can get the higher score. 


6)     Granny. Granny is a horror game that pits you against a psychopathic grandma who wants to kill you. You must utilize the tools around you to escape her house in five days. Each time she “catches” you, the next day commences. This game is just beautiful, and I wish more games like this existed on the App Store. Strangely, this game is very popular on YouTube, which is drawing even more attention to it than it already has. A perfect example of what is happening to this game is Slender. Slender was very popular on YouTube and the App Store in it’s prime, just like Granny. I hope that this game gets updated adding a save option and more houses to get trapped in.



I bet your wondering why I did 6…. Well… reasons.

Monday, March 26, 2018

April Fools’ Ideas by Allyson Reyna


April Fools’ Day is currently on the same day as Easter this year. An odd combination of events but the opportunities which a good prank has is relatively good. If you are someone who enjoys the festivity of pranking, then you may enjoy some of these pranks which have an Easter twist to them. Just remember, don’t be too mean. It is Easter, after all.

1.    Exchange the beloved candy within the plastic eggs with vegetables, fruit, or something that just is not wanted by the egg hunters. This will REALLY get them annoyed. Who would want broccoli when chocolate was being anticipated for?

2.    You could be hosting a small gathering at your house and serving cake. What people don’t know is that this cake is a sponge cake. Everyone enjoys desert and so everyone will think nothing of it when they take the first bite. Little do they know it is a cake made of literal sponges with icing spread over it. Then if you are nice, you can serve them real cake.

3.    Remember those cute little chocolate bunnies which are hollow? Ever wondered why they are hollow? They are hollow for in case one day April Fools’ lands on the same day as Easter and then you can fill them up with mustard or some other disgusting condiment.

4.    Start an egg hunt without any eggs. It’s great. Wait and see how long it will take before they realize there is nothing to find.

5.    If you have jelly beans present or have them in eggs, then mix some Bean Boozled jelly beans in there as well. Flavors like “stinky socks” or “spoiled milk” will unexpectedly pop up and when they do… wait and then film their reaction.  

Friday, March 23, 2018

Should you get a phone that folds? By Steven Roberts

So apparently last year ZTE launched the Axon M- a foldable smartphone with dual screens. This 2018 Samsung is also making plans for releasing their very own foldable phone. Pretty soon more and more companies will develop these devices, which will start a new trend in the industry. But the real question is should you really buy one. Lets take a look at some of the pros and cons of a foldable smart phone. One of the advantages is that obviously, you will have two screens in one portable phone. Also the foldable smartphone has versatility which you can switch from different viewing modes, Like single screen, running two separate apps in each display, same app running on both screens, and merging the two screens to become a single, and a large display. You can also take better selfies because the companies installed  high-end lenses on both displays. Despite its fun advantages, it also has disadvantages. For example these devices can be thick and heavy because each side of the  screens will have a separate set of hardware, the battery may no last as long because there is two screens it has to power, the hinge to fold the phone may get in the way of videos, the starting  price for the Axon M is $725. So reading some of the pros and cons about the foldable phone it  is now your choice if you should by it or not.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Easter Egg Origins By Robert Cohan


Easter is a big part of Christian and most of the world’s culture. Its Christian significance comes from the day Jesus rose from the dead. But where does the rest of the celebration fit in? What does a bunny and colored eggs have to do with Jesus? Well, in most cultures the egg represents re-birth and new life (obvious connection is obvious), but it meant this long before Jesus was born on earth. The Nowruz and the Iranians started painting eggs way before Jesus was born. Easter eggs (as previously mentioned) take the eggs symbolism of re-birth and apply it to Jesus.

H1Z1 Backlash by Grayson Perry


H1Z1 is a popular Battle Royale game that started the Battle Royale trend on YouTube and Twitch. It just recently surpassed 10 million players on Steam. Since its original release on steam, which was on January 15, 2015 as an early access title, it has gone through many changes and had major competition from PUBG and Fortnite. H1Z1 was incredibly popular, being the first of its kind years ago, but now faces being one of the most disliked Battle Royale games today. Recently, H1Z1 was made free to play, which caused much backlash from players who paid $10 to $20. So far, the developers have been silent about this and are not issuing out refunds. H1Z1 has also received negative reviews due to massive game changes. The developers have dramatically changed how the game works multiple times, which has caused frustration among players. Finally, H1Z1 developers hardly listen to the player opinions, and often make huge decisions without listening to the community first. Despite all of this, H1Z1 is still trying its best to maintain its current players and bring in new players as well. Adding new game modes, just as Fortnite does occasionally, and pushing constant updates to keep the game afloat. H1Z1 is not a bad game, or a boring game, but just as all game developers must do, they need to pay more attention to the community.

Monday, March 19, 2018

I am Annoyed by Negativity by Allyson Reyna


Why has negativity, self-deprecating tendencies, and an overall sourness consumed people? Constant jokes which bring one’s self and others down, complaining, and annoyed expressions fill the behaviors and attitudes of people. And why is this considered normal?

It is considered normality within today’s society since it has consumed media and everyday interactions. Things do not always go our way. This can lead to a couple different avenues in one’s reaction to it… either looking at it in a positive or negative way. The easier path, to many, would be negative tendencies. It is easier to complain when things do not go our way than it is to see the positive in it. This behavior, overtime, can become habitual. When it becomes that, it becomes this constant source of refuge for that person to turn to. Something goes slightly wrong? Quick solution is for that person to simply say something negative, make a sardonic joke, be self-deprecating, etc. Overtime these so-called jokes, remarks, and so on are not so entertaining; they become somewhat annoying to listen and to watch. Sometimes it gets so annoying that it becomes just sad to witness.

Personally, I am downright tired of this negativity. Whatever the source of negativity may be… it is just annoying. So, just stop. Simply, stop. Please, stop. I am asking you to STOP. When I say stop, I am not intending to dictate your words or actions, or refute the idea that sometimes tragedies strike. My intentions are for there to be more positivity in everyday normal occurrences. There is not enough positivity in this world. Everything is apparently “wrong”. That is not true, though. There is so much goodness which seems to be hidden away since people’s attention is not placed on it.  There attention is focused in on the downsides to things and this brings an overall negative outlook which seeps into the way they act.

So, I have a proposal; lets be more positive. See the goodness within the circumstances that occur. If something seems not so bright, know that it will pass, and everything will be just fine. Will all complaining and negative words be completely put to rest?Absolutely not. But we do hold the capability of turning our attention towards something else. And it is completely fine to tell someone how you are truly feeling about that assignment or complain about how the weather is just too hot. However, our entire vocabulary should not be honed in on everything that is just soooo horrible, and we must remember that everything will turn out alright. 

Now that I have finished complaining about negativity, lets try to be more positive…

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Double Standards in Academics by Amy Yarbrough

       Growing up in a half math, half English home was interesting. My father is the math man, and my mother is the english teacher. My dad definitely wanted my sister and I to be engineering minds, but he still never forced us to pursue it, nor did he try to steer us away from our artistic interests. Being homeschooled meant that we had time to pursue many different artistic interests. Not having school every day gave us time to develop skills that we would have had to leave behind otherwise. Even though we had plenty of creative support growing up, the world has one or two things to say about “artists”.
Someone who is great at mathematics and scientific studies is considered smart. It doesn't matter how bad they are at writing, or bored they are of books, or uncreative they are with other endeavors; they are still the smartest. What about the one who is great at english? The one who can understand great pieces of literature and pick them apart to find different meanings in text and scriptures from a variety of years. What do people think of them if they're bad at math and science? They’re seen as the dimmer half of the population. The problem isn't that one is better than the other. The problem is that people have put one side on a pedestal, and it’s seen as the pinnacle of intelligence. Never mind that illiteracy has literally caused dark ages, it’s clearly not that bad…

Don’t get me wrong, math is important. There’s absolutely no denying that our technological advancements aren’t due to Shakespeare. But the double standard lies in schools. Get all A’s in your english and writing classes? Great! You're pretty smart!.. Wait what? You got a D in Math? You’ve brought dishonor to yourself, your cow, and your family. You can leave now if you're not too dumb to find the door. 

Got all A’s in math and science but D’s in english? That’s fine sweetie! You're a smart cookie you'll find your way around the world. We need you to survive. You're the ticket to discovering new life. You’ve cured all diseases by choosing “C” on a multiple choice question. We need you to copy our brains and put them in computers. Humans are evolving. Because of you. 


Creating a Good Story by Autumn Snow



Within the realm of literature, there is an extremely various amount of subjects to be pondered over in the pages of any book. Within the realm of fictional literature, there are endless examples of good, bad, and downright ridiculous tales that have been entertaining (or not, in certain cases) people for centuries. But creating a good, wholesome story that people will want to read is not easy by any means, so here are a few pointers for the aspiring author.

First comes the title. Well, actually, the title may be the last thing a writer comes up with, depending on how formulated the story already is in his/her mind. A great title is one of the most important components in drawing attention toward your brilliant novel. You want to give it the grandest name ever to be thought up, a symbolic phrase that could sum up the book in a few graceful words. Even one word might do in certain cases, though it would have to be a pretty sensational word.

Next comes the storyline. Now, this is perhaps the most crucial part of constructing a good story since it's . . . well, since it's the story. It's also the hardest part of your venture. It may not seem so, but it takes a good amount of work to come up with a story that hasn't already been created in some other form. It can also be very difficult to generate a narrative enticing enough to keep people's attention, but also make it open-minded enough so that you aren't the only one taking interest. Take a lot of time thinking over your ideas before putting them to paper. And make sure it's something worth writing about. As they say, if there is a story out there that you want to read that has not yet been written, write it yourself. Just make sure it isn't stupid.

Next is the use of proper grammar. If this tool is utilized correctly, you'll end up sounding smarter than you really may be, and that's all any author can hope to achieve.

Lastly for today are the characters. Characters should be the most interesting objects within your story, for it's the characters that help you begin and end your book. Developing your characters properly is very, very important. You have to make your characters your own, but you have to make them relatable enough so that people might actually become somewhat emotionally connected to these completely non-existent beings. Make these characters appealing, but don't make them without fault. No one is going to take interest in a perfect individual, for it's not realistic. Give them memorable names, unique personalities, and intriguing quirks and features.

Of course, there may be other things I'm forgetting, but these are the key pointers I use when writing a story, and hopefully it has been of some interest to whoever it is that has had a long enough attention span to finish reading this post. Good luck to you and your story-writing expeditions.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Spring Break Ideas by Allyson Reyna

Are you bored? Do you not know what to do with your spare time? Do you even know what spare time is? Well, this spring break, you may have this thing called “spare time”. It is this thing in which you have time leftover from all other planned tasks which you have already completed or do not have to complete till later.

Here is a list of things to do when you do not know what to do... 


Read a book. To some this may feel like school but to others it is enjoyable. 

Take a daytrip to a place where there is stuff to do.

Try something completely new like rock climbing or take a painting class.                                                                                                                                           
Conquer a fear. For me, it would be going to a place where ostriches are and being relatively close to it.

Go outside and sit in a hammock.

See if your friends want to do anything and then do it with them.

Make something to eat that isn’t a sandwich or cereal.

Go to the zoo.  

Get ahead or catch up on your schoolwork. I completely am in knowledge that this is probably my least favorited idea but hey it’s something to do so…     

Take a nap. 


Saturday, March 10, 2018

 Health in America  By Steven Roberts




So we all may know that America is known as one of the  the fattest countries  in the world. Many Americans blame the fast food industry for over-advertising, selling unhealthy foods, and selling oversized portions. However, other feel that America's obesity is a matter of personal responsibility. We can all cut down on fast food sometimes because we know that its not good for us, but that doesn't mean that we have to stop eating it completely all you have to do is not eat it so much and if you do that your health will improve everyday. I mean sure it is so good i mean i love fast food but i try not to eat it everyday but if i do then after i go for a run for about three miles so the food would not just turn into fat. We could all improve our health very easily you just have to put your mind and heat to it, and say to keep saying to your self that you want to be healthy and look good, you have to be your own motivation, and to keep pushing yourself until you have reached your goal. I mean it not all about what you eat it is all about how hard you work at your goal that you want to achieve.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Fortnite Frenzy by Grayson Perry


FORTNITE FRENZY

Recently, a certain video game has been capturing the attention of millions worldwide due to its uniqueness, and that game is none other than Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite is a Third Person “Battle-Royale” game (hence the name Fortnite Battle Royale) available on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, and is currently one of the most popular video games among the gaming community. “Battle Royale” is a genre of game where 100 online players are sent to an island or confined zone and are tasked with eliminating each other and being the last man standing by any means necessary. To do this, one must utilize the vast arsenal of weaponry available against each other, not doing so limits your chance of victory to almost nothing. Fortnite, however, puts a unique twist to nearly all of these tasks, making it stand out from the crowd.

At the beginning of a match of Fortnite, you are placed in a “waiting lobby” as you wait for all 100 players to join the match. Once all of the players are in the lobby, the game places you in an aircraft flying over an island, the island where everyone will be pit against each other. You have the choice of where to jump out of the aircraft and freefall to, but choosing not to will lead to getting kicked out of the aircraft, so better to jump on your own terms. When you get close enough to the ground, a Glider will be deployed, which will decrease your speed and prevent you from splatting on the ground. Upon landing, you will need to find a weapon fast, as others are likely around you, waiting to get an easy kill. Don’t fret! Weapons are easily obtainable and are quite simple to find, because they glow. Weapons will come in different rarities, Common (glows white), Uncommon (glows green), Rare (glows blue), Epic (glows purple), and Legendary (glows gold). Each weapon will be efficient at different tasks, such as the sniper is effective at long range while the shotgun is more effective at short range. Higher rarities are also more efficient than lower rarities, a higher rarity usually means that the weapon has less recoil or does more damage per shot. Although weapons are important in Fortnite, they aren’t the only items you can obtain while fighting for your life. Items such as Bandages, Grenades, Shield Potions, and others are just as important as the weapons, and only being able to hold five items total, you must decide what is more important to take with you. Now, the island is huge, so there must be some way to make people fight each other, or the match would take forever… well, there is. Roughly a minute after you land on the island, a white circle will appear on your map (which you can view by pressing a certain button), and this circle is called the Safe Zone. There will be a timer urging you to make your way to the safe zone before the area outside of the circle is no longer safe. Once the timer hits zero, a purple circle can be seen on the edge of the map slowly closing in, called the Storm, and the only way to avoid it is to make your way to the Safe Zone. If you happen to find yourself in the Storm circle, you will notice that you take one damage per second out of the 100 health (assuming that you have full health), and the storm will eliminate you, unless you are able to make it to the Safe Zone. Once the Storm reaches the Safe Zone, a new Safe Zone will appear inside of the already present Safe Zone, this time smaller, to force players to face one another. This continues until the safe zone is only big enough to fit one person inside, causing remaining players to be eliminated. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Storm will do increased damage as the Safe Zone gets smaller, increasing from 1 damage per second, then to 2, then 5, then 10. Fortnite’s most unique feature is the ability to build structures. Using the Harvesting Tool (which is literally a Pickaxe) materials can be acquired through destroying trees, structures, rocks, and cars. You can then use the acquired materials to build walls, floors, ramps, and pyramids. This can be utilized in combat, keeping you safe, but not forever as the structures can be destroyed. In the end your main goal is to be the last alive, whether you play it safe and hide, or go in guns blazing, victory is only obtainable by surviving. But you don’t have to die alone! Fortnite also allows you to team up with one or three other friends.

 Fortnite isn’t the only Battle Royale game on the market, other games are available such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, H1Z1, and The Culling, to name a few. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is fighting with Fortnight for the most popular Battle Royale game, and most recently Fortnite surpassed PUBG as most popular with 3.4 million concurrent players. This popularity could attribute to Fortnite being free, while PUBG costs around $30. Fortnite also keeps players coming back with constant updates, adding new locations to land at, adding new weapons, adding new game modes, and the Battle Pass. Fortnite is always introducing new game modes for players to enjoy for a limited amount of time such as: All Gold (where all of the weapons that you find are legendary), 50v50 (instead of playing solo, duo, or squads there are two teams of 50 that fight it out), and most recently, 20 Man Squads (5 teams of 20 face each other). The Battle Pass is seasonal, which means it usually lasts around 60 days, and is a “book” that you can complete to unlock various items. These items include Skins (different characters to play as), Back Bling (backpacks, bow ties, fake wings, etc…), Trails (lines that follow you as you’re freefalling in the sky), Emotes (dances, gestures, etc…), Gliders (think of hang gliding, its what you use when you land) Harvesting Tools (pickaxes as mentioned earlier), and Emblems (little pictures next to your name). The Battle Pass, along with other skins you can acquire, costs real money, and is how Fortnite makes money, with the game being free. What Fortnite’s creators Epic Games does perfectly here, is what they do with Microtransactions. Microtransactions in video games costs real money out of our pockets to purchase items in game, otherwise known as Fortnite’s Battle Pass. The only things you can purchase in Fortnite are considered cosmetics, which only affect how the player looks. Most games that have Microtransactions today gives players unfair advantages for having a big wallet, and usually have a large price tag for the game itself. Fortnite has done a beautiful job in restraining itself to not do this, but still work in Microtransactions. The game has also had huge success on YouTube and Twitch, two very popular media platforms. Entire channels have been dedicated to Fortnite and insane gameplay footage by people who play it. Due to this massive popularity, combined with it being free-to-play, and the gameplay style that appeals to many, Fortnite Battle Royale has been hugely successful in just about every way, and many would consider it the best game that is currently on the market.

So You Want to Bring Your Pet to College by Allyson Reyna


Do you have a dog? A cat? A fish? A horse? A pet? And do you want to bring them to college?

There is a possible chance that you can bring your pet to college, against social norms. There are some “pet friendly” colleges out there which can fit both you and your furry pal. If you would like to see what some of these colleges are and what they allow in terms of bringing along a pet…


Generic Villain #7 By Robert Cohan

Marvel movies are great with likable heroes, great comedy and compelling story. But most marvel movies today have one great flaw, villains. The villain is always just some generic person who wants to destroy the world, make millions of dollars or release some monster. They also don’t have interesting powers, usually just a carbon copy of the hero. A great example of this is Ant Man. Ant Man has incredible comedy, amazing story and likable main characters. But the villain is just a guy who wants to make money (so evil) and has The same powers as Ant Man with some lasers thrown in for good measure. He has no real motives other than money, no story and nothing to make him memorable. Of course Marvel has made good villains with War Monger (Black Panther) and Vulture (Spider Man: Homecoming).

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

The Era of Remakes by Autumn Snow




It is a scientific theory that each generation of the human race is becoming less and less creative and intelligent. And that theory couldn't be any more substantiated within the art of film-making. At the very least, it's been pretty obvious over the past few years that the silver screen hit its peak of inventiveness a long time ago.

It seems as though reboots and remakes are all the craze lately, which certainly doesn't give a whole lot of credit to the television industry. This year alone, over ten remakes will be coming out, Tomb Raider, Mary Poppins Returns, and Scarface being a few. Not to mention all the remakes from the last few years, including The Mummy, Beaches (**sigh**), Ghostbusters, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Rings. Then there's the swarm of reboots searching for a comeback, such as Fuller House, Will and Grace, and Taken (which plays off of the movie franchise). In fact, it's hard to name more than a few movies and TV shows that came out over the last two years that weren't some form of a remake.

Now, I'm not saying that remakes are bad overall, because they aren't. They can be very interesting, especially if a new cast somehow does justice to the original (which isn't often the case). The first rule of remakes, as Randy Meeks from the Scream franchise (another example of reboot-mania) might say, is to never mess with the original. However, one wouldn't want to watch the exact same movie go down with no difference other than the cast, who essentially makes the movie what it is. You've got to be picky if you want to create a good remake. You've got to make it seem even more enticing than the original (which it will never, ever be). You've got to take somebody else's story and make it your very own without altering it entirely. And when you think about all these ways to make a good comeback, it may seem as though these screenplay writers, directors, et cetera might actually be more creative than we think. But who cares, because it's still a remake, and remakes are pretty much God's way of telling viewers, "Yo. You could be doing something better with your time than watching beloved memories from the past be remade with less enthusiasm."

Again, I'm not trying to trash remakes, I'm just saying . . . This nation must be getting pretty darn bored.

(And, good gracious, that Beaches remake was absolutely deplorable.)

The End


Monday, March 5, 2018

Short Story: Dear Nobody, Anybody, and to Whom it May Concern by Allyson Reyna


It was 30 October 1941 and the star in the sky was lonely. It was dark this night, darker than usual. A train was making a purring stop in front of the Pennsylvania platform.

And a man, a young one, but with an old soul, stood there in solemn silence. He carried a briefcase and wore a disheveled cerulean trench coat. Though he appeared in perfect calmness, really he was distressed and had occurred over time a diminutive amount of anxiousness, which he was not all-too familiar with. Those were not his problems, though, for his problems were the ones that were obtained from others. He was selfless, humble, gracious, and merciful. Nonetheless, he was altruistic.

When the train came to a finalizing halt, the conductor beckoned all the passengers on board. They were traveling to Toronto, Canada, and specifically speaking the young man was heading there on a line for unusual business. He was not traveling for his own patients but for his own mother.

As he strode through the aisle, his eyes became hazy, but they regained focus when they laid to rest on a piece of parchment paper. It was placed on the window sill of that prescribed compartment. The scribbles which laid on it were unruly and the ink was blotched. Since the man was from such an inquisitive character he had a natural tendency to be curious. So with an all-too naturalness kind of manner, he sat next to the unread document. He did not touch it, nor did he glance at it once more, but sat in a protective disposition as if he was its guard.

He sat there for several elongated moments. However, this young man was as human as any other person was. He temptation to read it grabbed onto him and clung to him, till, he picked up the piece of parchment paper. Once his strong hands bared onto it, he slowly unfastened the velvet seal that enclosed it. He knew in a moment’s time that this was something that would bring great and unnecessary burden to an already heavy-hearted man.

Dear Nobody, Anybody, and to Whom it May Concern,

There is beauty in the most sorrowful of places. There is life in the most painful circumstances. There is light in the darkest of times. There is laughter hidden beneath the tears. There is joy within the sadness. There is hidden anger within the smile. There is sickness behind the face of health. There is stress underneath rejuvenation.

I try to change. But I can’t. I just am not of able strength. There is something holding on to me. Something that is not letting me go. There is someone in my head and it is not me.

I try so hard to live by this small, yet, powerfully merciful word, joy. Simple enough, isn’t it? No, actually not at all. I tell myself in repetition each and every single morning to be this joyful, whimsical, and eccentric human being. I tell myself to smile. I tell myself to portray this false image that I am not.

Instead, I frown. Instead, my anger hides my true charisma. Instead, my tears cover my face like a blanket and leave my eyes with red and swollen blotches.

People think of me as this depressed, serious, reserved, frustrated, and lonely girl. I try to believe that I am not any of those things, yet, I would just be holding onto false fixations of myself. And I know that I may be of corrupt mind, but I am not of dishonest or dishonorable character.

I remind myself that I am not lonely. I am just alone, for the moment. I have never heard a grander of worse lie than that. I guess I may be of dishonest and dishonorable character… after all.

I suppose there is no point to any of this. None. So why? Just why? I try so hard. I never seem to be enough. I never seem to get past the border of my fraudulent behavior. I never seem to be the person that I genuinely want to be.

I suppose we don’t always get what we want.

Love Always and to the End of Time,

A.B.  

            Within the closed-in compartment the man was in, his airways seemed to have collapsed in on him. The compartment seemed to grow smaller and more concealed. His air had completely caved in on him. This was not due to any kind of unhealthy state that could have obtained. He was simply a downcast man.

            Since, he was medically trained, he knew what this letter preordained. He had studied the behaviors of such people and every time he met someone like such, he though of his mother. The only thing that made this worse was that he had discovered something that prevailed from the ink lines and a message had been to written, to him. Yet, he was unable to do anything.

            After breathing in a heavy breath, he came back to his deceptive senses. This was it for him. He was disheartened and unequipped for any kind of situation like such to be tossed into his vicinity. He took one last breath, opened the window, and let the letter flow from his fingertips and he let it soar through the wind. The train continued to purr on further and it could not be stopped…

            It was the next day 31 October 1941. He had arrived in the premature morning. The sun had not even come out to say hello. This overdue visit was upon him and his apprehension grew as his weariness seasoned along with it.

            He stood still like a stone which was fixated into place. Not even the wind could make him move. However, like the good man he was, he knew that it would be even more solemn if he remained in the compartment. So he rose from his seat and walked towards the edge of the train. There she was, waiting on the platform. It took him a moment, but he eventually received the strength to put his right foot over his left and proceeded towards the person he loved and cared for the most.

            “Hello, Mother,” he said, in a voice which was coarsely above a whisper.

            “Hello, Ben. May I ask you something?” She asked with a lisp.

            “Of course.”

            “What is my name?”

            “Amelia Benetine.”