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This week I have decided to just totally geek out for a while. For one your comment about skype, I really see it as an advancement for mainstream telephone as you can call other internet phones for free. You can call landlines and mobile phones for a fee. That sort of pay-as-you-go attitude really is a cool idea. They actually started an experiment where a few homeowners switched from regular phone companies to skype. They just started but it looks promising.
Another idea, downloading movies will definantly hurt movie producers. I am sure that people will take advantage of downloading movies. Heck, it happens now. However, the growing use of services such as http://youtube.com is more prominent. On youtube users can upload footage from a digital recording device and make a video stream of it so that users can watch it. Although, recently some users have been misusing youtube by putting up copyrighted content. Saturday Night Live had one skit up on the site and asked to have it removed. Within a few hours of the removal however another version, made independently appeared. I use youtube and do not get me wrong it is a great resource as long as it is used wisely and not used to misconstrue some copyrighted material.
Finally, another idea is about legal music for free and creative commons. Basically, I can use a resource like http://music.podshow.com or http://garageband.com and download free music. This is because the artists want their music out there and a willing to share it openly with people that might want it. However, their work is still protected under something called creative commons. This can involve many different licenses that protect the artists work but having your work licensed under creative commons means a few things. One, people who download your work cannot redistribute it for money and two they cannot make their own mix-up of the music. However, these terms can differ under which license the artist selects. Copyright law is not an easy thing to deal with.
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This week has definantly been enlightening with all of the talk about teachers. Many parents I have talked to believe that the teachers are wrong. Some say that the teachers are being unjust as they are not making a point about the books being fire starters and made an issue of taking away the kids picnic. I for one am just sick of all the talk about what the teachers have and have not done. I really think that the teachers are getting to the end of their rope as they are getting annoyed that they do not have a contract after 18 months of talks. I think the teachers are also irritated that the superintendent left in the middle of contract negotiations and they have to wait for the new one to be hired to continue contract talks which may not happen for another few months. (Note: The above is meant with the up most respect as all works are that are created by Ryan Multimedia).
Recently, I started volunteering at Brighton Library. It was actually pretty fun as I got to do some activities I enjoy like, computers and still do some other things like updating labels on books. I really am looking forward to getting to do more of it over the summer. The only bad thing is that it will be difficult during the school year because of all the homework I receive. Eventually, I would love to end up working there as I have worked on the same sort of projects while I worked over at Hornung. I actually think that volunteering is a good thing to get into. I really end up doing a lot of it. I cannot understand why more kids do not want to volunteer and end up making an impact on the community.
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Amazing we are this close to the end. 
There was just a few things I wanted to get out of the way right away. Actually, I was able to find a better than honest evaluation of EarthCore. I emailed the author and we have been having a rather interesting email exchange. We figured out that the book is worth 32 points. If you want me to send it to you I would be more than glad to. Just use the same email address you want it sent to when you put your email address in for the comment. Also, I am not a reluctant reader just so you know.
This week in Earthcore was definantly one to be remembered. Especially for the fact that Randy Wright, a mining foreman and Sanji all died in the course of the book so far. I was just amazed at how quickly the characters seemed to die off and the variety of ways that the author decided to kill them. My favorite character however is O'Doyle. His perseverance to keep going strong even after he injured his knee and had a dying companion who he loved was jaw dropping. O'Doyle also has the heart of a teddy bear for being an international killing machine.
Also, I was wondering if it would be all right for me to do an alternative AR on EarthCore. You said I could still pick off the original list earlier. So I would like to write a new beginning to the book. Can I turn it in next Friday?
After giving much thought to what went on Wednesday I have thought that during the first part of the "protest" it was pretty much selfish and probably should not have just been for the picnic. The second part where people purposely skipped class was most definantly selfish and uncalled for. I think that much blame is put unfairly on teacher's shoulders. Teachers should not be blamed because the school is running out of money. They deserve to be paid their fair wages like the rest of the people that work all over. I think that it is horrible that our school cannot afford cleaning the way it should be done. I believe that the old superintendent left us because he saw the chalk hitting the sidewalk. Sadly, this is not going to get better very soon as the economists expect that Michigan will be in an economic slump for 5-8 more years. Who knows what will happen to our schools by then?
