The founding of Facemash

I know, I know, i've slowed down on my blogging. I've been really busy. I don't want to take the readings chapter by chapter though because then people might not read the book, and people need to read this book!

In my opinion, this is truly where the rest of the book unravels. The reading begins with Mark mad, angrily blogging about a girl who denied him, while his best friend Eduardo is out partying with his new fraternity. Although it isn't directly said that Mark is jealous, it's connotated. Also, in this reading Mark started to take "Facebooks" from Harvard online, and from the many housings and decided to compile pictures to create FaceMash. This was truly the beginning of facebook. Hacking into Harvard's base was simple for someone as streamlined as Mark, stealing thousands of pictures without a trace.

It'll be interesting to see how things turn out. I can start to see how things are going to go bad. I always thought Eduardo would betray Mark, but i'm starting to think it's the other way around. Anyways, as of right now, facebook is probably one of my least favorite social networking sites. I much prefer Tumblr & Twitter. Who knows, maybe soon i'll be reading about the founding of Tumblr.

Soccer Phenom

I found this article very interesting;however, it wasn't very surprising. Often when a student doesn't cope well with other students they use hobbies in place of friends, much like Indi does. Although she's a star on the soccer field, she's not a star at school. Often, she goes unnoticed. She's not on the girl's soccer team, and doesn't play anywhere else. She's very talented and is going to play soccer at north Carolina next year, so I hope that she makes some friends. Also, indi's being hearlded as the best female freestyler in the world. Instead of standard soccer techniques, Freestylers can do just about anything they like. Indi's probably one of the most dedicated people i've ever heard of. On the night that she performed her talents for her school, instead of going to an after-party with all the other performers, she went home with her family. When everyone went to bed, she went back to practice. Because of her perfofmance, she's also received much acclaim from her peers, so hopefully she'll make some friends. I always thought that without friends people wouldn't go far, but Indi shows that that is not true. As long as you have a good support system, both family or friends, you can go far.

High School Futures

As high schoolers, a lot of us are just deciding what we would like to do with our lives. Some jobs are more practical than others, but i always enjoy people following their dreams. The student that I relate to the most is the Actress, it's always been a dream of mine to become and Actor, and although I always say I can't critique anyone's acting because I myself am not perfect, I didn't think this actress was very good. I just didn't think she had much motivation, but that's just my opinion. One of the coolest jobs was probably the Marijuana baker. I've never heard of anything so bazaar but I guess that's Cali for you. Although sometimes not practical, I'm glad to see a lot of the jobs are artistic and that people are going to follow their dreams even though they know they might not be wealthy, its nice to see people doing what they love.

1000 Awesome Things

This was probably one of my favorite websites we've visited this year. A lot of the 1000 awesome things are things i've done at some time in my life. Here are a few of my favorite things:

-Eating the thing you're cooking while cooking it
- your almost name
-getting all sweaty and jumping in
-location based snacks
-grandma hair

Haha ,these are really funny.

Past Books

Over the last 9 weeks, I primarily only read one book that I liked, The Help. Last year I read To Kill a Mockingbird and that book ended up being one of my favorite books. When I saw The Help, I realized that I might be kind of like To Kill A Mockingbird through the eyes of Calpurnia, the maid in TKAM. It ended up being just that, but even better. I realized over the last nine weeks that I liked historical fiction. and other non-fiction books, they just have to be interesting. The book I'm currently reading is Accidental Billionaires, it's about the founding of facebook. It's got a different plot than The Help, but that's not a bad thing. It's still very interesting and I look forward to finding out the end of it.

A Tale of Chicken.

Recently i've been in a time crunch when it comes to homework. It's kind of sad, it's only monday and I already have 5 tests tomorrow, as well as a few test this weekend. This reading was a little shorter than the past readings but it fortunately was still entertaining. Well, on to the reading.

This reading opened with Eduardo entering a lecture looking for Mark. Mark was easily found when Eduardo noticed Mark's signature gold curls, adidas sandals, and blue hoodie. When Eduardo found Mark, he was carrying around a huge box and inside it was a chicken. As Eduardo's final task before being accepted into the Phoenix, Eduardo had to care for a chicken for a week. Once Eduardo found Mark the chicken hopped out of the box, making a screeching chicken noise but it thankfully went unnoticed by the professor. At first the Chicken had been rather easy for Eduardo to take care of, but when a member of the Porc Club saw Eduardo feeding the Chicken fried chicken, they jokingly called The United Poultry Concern; claiming that the Phoenix told new pledgees to torture chickens. The prank got all the way up to the President of Harvard, but luckily the Phoenix hadn't realized that it was Eduardo. Eduardo had came to inform Mark of a double date that he had set up for him. With only two days left until Eduardo is let into the club, his social life is about to change forever, and he's already reaping the benefits of becoming a Phoneix, finally meeting girls.

I'm really excited to see what's going to happen next. I'm so far really enjoying this book. With spring break only 9 days away, i'm looking forward to reading this wherever I go!

A Tale of Boredom.

It kinda stinks, I spoke too soon on my last blog post when I said that this book was fast pacing. This last chapter changed all of that, It was still interesting however. I think I can see how it gist of the whole plot but i'll just have to wait and see.

This reading brought the introduction of three new characters, the Winklevoss' and Divya. The Winklevoss' Cameron & Tyler were identical twin, soon-to-be olympic row boaters. They had rowed almost everyday since they were four and upon graduation are expected to compete olympically. Intelecually,they are very different although they're both smart. Tyler was right-handed, more logical, and serious minded. On the other hand, Cameron was left-handed and the more creative and artistic of the two brothers. However, when they "worked the oars" their personalities became one, they seemlessly rowed the boat down the Charles River. Although the two brothers didn't have "old money" they came from a family of prestige, and were therefore accepted into the most prestigious "club" at Harvard, The Porc. The porc wasn't about social institution, or girls or parties, it was about Status, and the future. Girls were only allowed to the club building on their wedding day and on the member's 25th club reunion; That's all. The two brothers had been working with Divya on a "secret project" called The Harvard Connection. Divya was born into a wealthy family also; both his parents were doctors. On The Harvard Connection, students could find dates, as well as make friends with other students at Harvard. It was the first of its class and right when they were close to start making it, their sole computer programmer quit. Now Tyler, Cameron, and Divya were all on a quest to find a new computer programmer, but the task isn't as easy done as said.

I guess I do realize the point of this chapter. I have a feeling that Mark or Eduardo base the idea of Facebook on the Harvard Connection, seeing that Facebook was originally only for college students. Maybe Tyler, Cameron & Divya will hire Mark as their computer progammer; Or maybe Eduardo will steal the idea from them and never tell Mark, forcing them to sue. Right now I have no idea, but my mind's open to any possibilities, only more reading will tell.

HillBillies & HillJackers.

The Documentary "Country Boys" follows the lives of two country boys (pun intended) growing up in Kentucky, portraying their adventures through high School and their coming of age. The two teens in the film were Chris and Cody. Both teens come from different backgrounds, Cody wealthy and Chris not so much, but they both have to deal with the hardships of living in the country. They both make fun of hillbillies and claim that they're not hillbilly's and HillJacker's, but in my opinion they just say that to hide the fact they they are Hillbilly's and Hilljacker's. Though they are country, they both seem to have par diction, although not pristine. Although he comes from the poorer background, Chris seems to have better diction than Cody. Chris' hopeful but brave diction expresses Chris' attempt to break away from his peers and speak with a form of hierarchy and prestige. His will to learn is again portrayed when Chris is shown putting together a school newsletter all by himself despite his grammar woes. Already being an oddball, Cody's gentle and frank grammar reflects his will to fit in intellectually, but the way he dresses expresses his desire to stand out. Both Chris and Cody have southern accents and because of this they are often mislabled as dumb; however, they each show some level of intellect.

The Founding of Facebook

I can't stop reading this book! Every chapter just gets better and better. It really hasn't gotten to the plot yet but it doesn't seem to have a slow start like some other books from the past. Right now they're just going through a backdrop of how Eduardo and Mark Zuckerberg met, which is a much needed backdrop to the story. Well, on to the story.

Chapter two opens up with Eduardo and Mark Zuckerberg at a party, this is when the first meet. There first meeting is awkward, mostly because of Mark. Mark was in a corner by himself and Eduardo approached him, Eduardo Jokingly talked to him but he couldn't tell if Mark recieved it well because there was no inflection in his voice. After that party died down, they made plans to go to another party which was a slight jog away. On the way, Eduardo told Mark about him almost being in the Phoenix fraternity, saying that maybe he could put in a good word for Mark if he got in. Eduardo knew it was advised to bring a girl with him to the PHoenix party, and that the beauty of the girl would influence his acceptance. The next day he went up to the prettiest girl in school and invited her to the Phoenix party, even though she was way out of his league, she said yes. Eduardo then realized that it wasn't him she said yes to, it was the Phoenix party. He realized that you could go anywhere if you had the prestige.

I'm so glad I finally have the chance to read this book! I had no idea who Eduardo Saverin was until I started to read this book but apparently he co-founded facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg. Apparently they hate each other now, so I guess only the book will explain. It's kind of sad because right now in the book Eduardo is saying how much he likes his new friend Mark.

The Accidental Billionaires.

I've been waiting forever to read this book! Someone always seems to snatch it up but thankfully someone gave it to me right after they finished reading it. It's based off the movie the social network, and although I didn't see the movie I really wanted too! Anyways, everyone i've talked to said the book was better than the movie so I'll just have to see the movie after I read the book!

The book opens with a Harvard college junior named Eduardo. Using business skills Eduardo recently gained a large increase on some oil speculations. Taking note of his business skills, a prestigious underground group called Phoenix, invited him to an invitation party. At this party Phoenix members were dispersed throughout hundreds of other students and if an invitee found a member, they were allotted only a few minutes to impress the members. Eduardo recognized a member by his tie, and indeed did impress him. Fortunatly in his third year of college, he learned how to BS interviews, and he just BS'd his way through this interview. In the corner of the room was an awkward boy with curly hair. Instead of attracting people, people seemed to veer from him. This boy was Mark Zuckerberg, he would soon do a lot more for Eduardo than Phoenix would ever do.

I've only read the first chapter and I'm already hooked on this story! I can already tell it's going to be a lot better than my old book. Alot of people who have read this book or seen the movie have told me that i'm going to hate facebook after I read this book so i'll just have to wait and see! I have a facebook but now it's a little too popular for my likings. I constantly find myself on Tumblr and Twitter instead.

Children's Books, Childhood Memories.

Upon looking through the collection of books, I came across many books I read as a child. It was pretty cool to see all the books I read as a child, It brought back a lot of memories. I was surprised at the age The Poky little Puppy, and Goodnight Moon, some of my childhood favorites. Out of all the books on the timeline, my very favorite had to be The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly stupid Tales. It was fairly new compared to the other books, being written in 1993. Instead of just retelling old tales, this story took the stinky cheese man and his adventures through old tales and completely messing things up. He found his way through the three little pigs, jack and the beanstalk, and other stories. In the end everyone hated him, and he ended up sinking in a river (I know, sad story for little kids). Another childhood favorite of mine was The true story of the three little pigs, It was the same story of the three little pigs through the wolf's perspective. In this story, he was innocent and the pigs we're out to get him. I'd recommend any of these books to people, and I hope you will take the time to read them. You're never too old for a children's book!

Cats

I didn't know what to name this last blogpost on The Devil & Sherlock Holmes, but I just decided to name it cats. I don't even like cats, mainly just the concept of them lol. Knowing that this was a true story, I was hoping and praying that Todd was innocent, and he was, but he didn't have a happy ending.

A different, more knowledgeable fire examiner by the name of Hurst Re-examined the home, upon Willingham's family's instruction. Being a more skilled Fire examiner than the other people who examined Willingham's home, he realized that Willingham was innocent. Most other "trained fire exingushers, had no more than a high school education, and recieved certification through a two week training program. Hurst on the other hand, had a college education and used the scientific method to look through the house. With his experiments, he found most of the former fire examiner's research to be wrong. Unfortunatly, it was too late for Willingham. No one would grant him an extention, with the results reaching him only 3 days before. Willingham was wrongfully convicted, and was executed. Weeks later Hurst's results reached Tennesse state legislation, where it was realized that they had first wrongly executed an innocent man.

Thankfully, only a few days after conviction it was made mandatory in Tennesse that the scientific method be used. This likely saved many innocent lives, where people where wrongly convicted for things they didn't do. I thought this was so sad, but bittersweet at the same time. Being in prison for 12 years does mental things to people where they wouldn't be able to function in the real world, and for Todd, his wife had left him, and he had no one but his parents. Days before his execution he said himself that he was ready to go, he no longer feared dying, he knew he was going to go to heaven and rest with his Children.

Tumblr

Okay, so a few weeks back in one of my blog posts I had mentioned that I made a tumblr, Flash-foward three weeks later and I'm in love! Tumblr has got to be my favorite social networking site there is! It's kind of a mix of blogger, twitter, and facebook but in a new sleek but manageable way. It's like the ultimate blog! The tumblr bug hasn't really hit homestead yet and I really like that! I was one of the first people I knew to have a twitter, and I think it's more fun having something before everyone does just so you can say "been there, done that," LOL. Anyways, I really enjoy my tumblr, it's probably the most personal blog I have.I also like how it's your own website and you can customize everything! It's one of the simplest, personal websites i've ever joined and i've truly made it my own. I haven't posted long sensual writings but mainly just re-blogged, <3'd (tumblr lingo) and posted pictures that I like. They say pictures say 1,000 words, and you can easily tell by someone's tumblr the kind of things they like. My blog is open to anyone who'd like to look at it, take a peek --> londentown.tumblr.com.

UP!

The house from UP exists! This past weekend the house from the Disney-Pixar movie UP was recreated by National Geographic and it flew also! I think it's o cool and it's about time that someone would do this! UP is one of my favorite disney movies. It's not just a movie for little kids, it's actually has a really sad plot but like all Disney movies has a great moral. Be sure to check out the movie Up, and hit the link to see the flying house in action

Hope for Todd?

The story has recently strayed from the heart-racing exuberant plot to a more sentimental plot. The past reading saw Todd as a more sentimental character, the more I read the less I think that Todd actually killed his kids. How could anyone do that?

This reading begins with the woman going over multiple cases of purported murder where the person was sent on death-row and later found to be innocent. She also went over multiple politicians expressing their views over the death penalty, with all of them declining it because it's too risky. In fact, through research she found that since 1976 130 people had been exonerated, but thanks to DNA testing (which is rarely used) 17 of the people were freed. Also, Willingham himself becomes very sad. He feels as if he doesn't belong there, and has begged his lawyer to free him. No one gives him gratitude, and he's gotten in fights also. He describes the people as inhumane, with them raping each other and not respecting one another. He also describes his surrounding, stating that inmates on death-row are placed in a prison within a prison. They give him no chance of rehabilitation, educational, or training programs, he is just put there until he dies.

I really hope that Todd isn't innocent, but then who else could it be? I know that whoever killed Todd's kids did a terrible thing, but I believe that no one should be put on death row. No one should lose their life, you can't fight fire with fire. I don't think anyone has the right to end someone's life, and although it would be terrible if Todd was the one to kill his own children no one should have the right to take his life away from him.

Spellbound

Along with a national competition, comes a lot of stress. Preperation for the competition, sub-competitions, along with the National Competition itself bring about a lot of stress for the young contestants ;however, each contestant deal with the stress in their own ways. Contestants Ashley and Harry each come from similar backgrounds, their parent's aren't rich like Neil, and they both come from modest middle-class families. Ashley wants to win the competiton for the money, to help her family by winning 10,000 dollars, but it doesn't seem to bother her if she doesn't win. Harry is just competing for fun and that shows in his personal interview, he's just out there having fun and the pressure doesn't seem to phase him. The nerves really hit Ashley once the competition starts, where she begins to shake and cry but gets over her nerves soon and pursues the next couple rounds before being eliminated. Harry blows through the first rounds like a breeze, as flawlessly as before. Although both contestants are eliminated, they were both able to fall back onto their supportive families, the people that helped them get to the competition stress-free.