Tour of My Blog - Jing

RSS Feed Discussion Questions

1. Why did you select the sites you subscribed to?
I chose the sites that I subscribed to because they were interesting to me.  I chose feeds on sports websites like the NBA and NCAA softball.  For other news websites, I chose things that have updates on celebrities. Then, for government websites, I chose things that would affect me such as government changes in education.

2. Was it easy to find feeds and subscribe to them?
It was very easy to find feeds and subscribe to them.  I just went to a website and looked for the orange RSS symbol.  If I couldn't find the symbol, then I just looked at the bottom of the page and the RSS feed was there.

3. Which sites were your favorites?
My favorite sites were my personal sites, including the NCAA softball feed and the NBA news feed.

4. What else can you use RSS feeds for?
You could use RSS feeds for many other things.  You could use it to keep track of all of teams during sports seasons, or you could even use it to keep track of the latest information while doing a project for school.  You could also use it to get the updates on your favorite celebrities or get new recipe ideas if you were a chef.  And all of this information would be in one place!

5. How likely are you to continue to use RSS feeds in the future?
I am very likely to continue to use RSS feeds in the future.  I like having all the updates on my favorite websites all in one place.  It is a lot more convenient than having to visit so many different sites.  I will probably continue to use them for sports news.

Tech Article 5/3

Click here to read the full article!

My Voki About School

Wiki Recap

Another topic for a wiki is the history of soccer.  After an intro page with lots of pictures, there could be a page called the Invention of Soccer, in which someone could write a brief paragraph on who invented soccer, how they invented it, and when they invented it.  The next page could talk about how soccer rules changed over time. After that, there could be a page on soccer's popularity in different countries.  Then, another page could be Famous Past Soccer Players.  On the page, there could be a chart on some of the most famous players in history and their accomplishments. Then, there could a page on current famous soccer players.  The next page could briefly discuss soccer's history in the Olympics.  All the pages would have many pictures of famous players and games.  I think this wiki about the history of soccer would be really interesting!

"The Man with iPhone- Controlled Bionic Arms"

Jason Koger had both of his lower-arms amputated after running over a downed power line on his four-wheeler in 2008.  Now, he has received two new arms that can be controlled by an iPhone app.  iLimb Ultra Revolution was created by UK prosthetic developers.  The arms have five individually powered fingers, and a fully rotatable thumb.  The hand automatically grabs objects such as pens and utensils, but with iLimb, the hand can perform 24 other grip patterns. With this new technology, Koger has become the first double-hand amputee in the world to receive prosthetic arms that can be controlled with a mobile app. 

Click here for the full article! 

"WSJ: Microsoft is Working on a 7-inch Surface"

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Microsoft is working on a new line of surface tablets, and one of them is a 7-inch tablet.  The line will be released later this year.  A 7-inch tablet wasn't originally the plan, but after the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini, Microsoft knew it had to make a competing product. Also, the original Surface wasn't as successful due to its cost.  So, Microsoft hopes a smaller, cheaper alternative will be more successful.  Click here for the full article.

My Spring Break

My spring break was busy!  My only homework was to read the House on Mango Street for Ms. Hunter's class, which was really boring.  Besides that, I was really busy with softball.  We had practice everyday except for the days that we had games.  We won against Cresskill and lost against Park Ridge in the Donna Ricker Tournament.  Now our record is 2-2. Then, yesterday I had a soccer game in Dumont.  We tied 1-1.  So, my spring break was busy with sports but I had a nice break from schoolwork!

     This is a picture from the Park Ridge game.  Erica CLEARLY tagged the girl before she reached home.... the girl's foot didn't even touch the plate! But of course she was called safe.

Our Presentation

Climate Clock

Climate Clock is a new weather app for iPhone. It gets data from "Weather Underground" or your favorite weather website. Climate Clock updates every hour. You can even see things like wind speeds and change in participation over an hour. The app is currently $1, but after a limited time it will be $2. The best part about Climate Clock is that when the app is closed you can still see the temperature on a badge on the app's icon. So, as its developer says, "it is designed to give the information you want and then get out of your way." 

  Click here for the full article!

Please Take My Survey!!!

If I Could Go Back in Time...

If I could go back in time, I would go back to a championship softball game  played in against East Rutherford in the 7th grade.  In the game, we were winning, and it was getting dark.  We did not finish the last inning, but the umpire called the game.  In the last inning, the other team got one run ahead of us.  However, we never finished the inning, so the score did not count.  The rule book says that if an inning is not finished, then you must revert back to previous inning's score, in which WE were winning.  Our team tried to tell the coaches and the umpire to simply finish the inning, so they could fairly win.  However, the other team refused.  So, we explained that technically  we won the game.  This started complete outrage in the other team and the parents, who were screaming at us (the twelve and thirteen year old players) and cursing at us.  So, we tried to compromise and call it co-champions.  Yet, the other team still would not calm down.  A fistfight almost broke out. We even gave them the trophies-so they decided to break them and throw them out.  We even had to CALL THE POLICE i n order to get the other team to leave the field   Literally, we weren't allowed to come out of the dugout until the police got everyone from the other team to leave the field.  Still, the coach of the other team was not satisfied and complained to the softball Board about the situation.  So, the Board said that no one deserved any sort of title whatsoever.  To this day, Wood-Ridge and East Rutherford have not gotten along.  The East Rutherford girls, literally yesterday, have posted stuff about the game.  So, if I could go back in time, I would go to that game and not have let them score any runs in that unfinished last inning.  We would have win the game fair and square and the other team could not have complained at all.  

"Could This Smart Armband Take The Cameras Out of Gesture Control?"

Thalmac Lab's muscle-sensing Bluetooth Armband (MYO) is an armband that is used for gesture control.  Instead of a camera watching your movement, the armband sits on your forearm and can sense muscle movement.  However, it is unsure on how sensitive the armband really is, for it would not be helpful if the armband sensed every small and unintentional movement.  MYO relies on Bluetooth to communicate with controlled devices.  It initially will support Macs and Windows machines.  It will eventually be able to support Android and iOS. MYO is available for pre-order now at https://getmyo.com/preorder for $150.00.  Yet, Thalmac's Lab is currently unsure of the exact date it will be released; they only know that it will be sometime in late 2013.  Click here to read the full article!

Do Now 2/19

If I could add any class to teach in the school curriculum, I would teach a yoga class.  Yoga is a great way of not only keeping in shape, but also relieving stress.  The class would meet sometime in the morning so the students could have a fresh beginning to the day.  The classroom would look simple; it would only need some yoga mats.  I would play soothing music in the background during class. In order to show that the students are learning something, they would be able to mimic standard yoga poses.  This class would feel like a huge stress-reliever for everyone.  The students would also feel like they are keeping physically fit.  Therefore, a yoga class would be a great addition to the curriculum because it would improve the overall health of the students.   

Sonos Playbar

Sonos Playbar is both a wireless music system and a soundbar for your TV.  The Playbar has nine speakers inside, and it easily plugs into your TV with a digital optical cable.  The Playbar makes watching TV and listening to music a true experience.  You can wirelessly play the music on your smartphone or tablet with the Playbar. It will be available next month for $700, and is available for pre-order now.  Unfortunately, the Playbar is actually designed to integrate with other Sonos products.  So, consumers will be pushed into buying entire $2,000 home theater and music systems.  

Click here to read the full article!

"Adobe's Developing a Brilliant Photo Editing App You Can Just Talk To"

Adobe, along with the University of Michigan, is currently developing a new photo editing app, PixelTone.  The app will not only make photo editing easier for people who are clueless when it comes to it, but it will also make editing photos a lot quicker for people who are already familiar with photo editing.  In PixelTone, you can simply speak to your device about how you want to edit your photo.  For example, you can say "Decrease the brightness in the top half of the photo."  You can also draw a lines on the pictures to be more specific and then say something like "Blur along this line."  For people who aren't familiar with photo editing, they can even say things like "Make this picture look more heavenly."  Whatever you tell PixelTone to do, it listens!  As you can see, this app will benefit just about anyone! Click here to read the full article.

Here is a video that explains PixelTone!

My Weekend

I had a busy weekend! On Friday, I stayed home and relaxed because the weather was bad.  Then, on Saturday morning, I had to go out with my dad and shovel in front of our house and shovel in front of our neighbors' houses.  After that, we went to my grandmother's house and with the help of my uncle we shoveled her house and her neighbors' house.  On Saturday night, we went to a family friend's house and watched the Bourne Supremacy movie.  Then, on Sunday morning, I went to church and afterwards I had an indoor soccer game.  It was against Teaneck and I scored two goals.  Our team ended up losing the game, but we played well.  After the game, I did my homework and relaxed for the rest of Sunday night.

This is the movie trailer for the movie I watched, Bourne Supremacy.

It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in a high-action, fast-paced movie.

This is a picture of an indoor soccer game.  There are many different types on indoor soccer, such as indoor soccer on turf, indoor soccer in a gym, and futsal.

Click here to learn the proper mechanics for shoveling snow.

"Mailbox for iPhone Is Finally in the App Store, Along With Its 250,000+ Waiting List"

Mailbox is officially available for iPhone and has become available in the App store.  The goal of the app is to change the mobile emailing experience.  There are several advantages to the app.  One advantage is that you can "snooze" unread emails with a single swipe   You can also delete read emails with a single swipe   So, it is easier and faster to maintain a clean inbox.  Unfortunately, even though the app is open to the public, you have to sign up on the long wait-list in order to get the app.  The wait-list is  now over 250,000 people!

Click here for the actual article!!!

Welcome to My Blog!!!!

Hi! My name is Brittany Larsen and I am a freshman in high school.  I have an older sister, Kiersten, who is a freshman in college.  I play soccer and softball.  In soccer, I usually am a defender but I also play midfield.  In softball, I am a pitcher.  In my down time, which I don't get a lot of, I like to relax and watch TV.  My favorite restaurant is Applebee's.  Click here for the Applebee's website.  I hope you enjoy my blog!!!!!!!!!!