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Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Future in a Glance

   Have you ever wondered, how would life be twenty years from now? How different would 2030 be from 2013? It's always interesting to think about the different technologies and life we would have in 2030. Now, I'm still not sure that flying cars will be invented by then, but I'm positive that many new technologies will help in our future daily lives in 2030.                                                                           
    It would be amazingly cool if there were refrigerators that would automatically recognize what food was inside it. Then, the refrigerator, would tell us whether to buy more milk or other food items. The 2030 refrigerators would also tell you if some food items were close to being expired. That way you will be told to restock your fridge or to finish eating something before it's too late!
    Another cool invention would be "The Automatic Bed Maker". I know it sounds lame, but it would be pretty useful. I mean, who likes making their bed every single morning? Nobody does. This bed maker would stand 3.5 feet tall. This robot will have four arms and after you get out of bed, you have to press a button on the robot and Voila!!! Your personal robot will automatically make your bed. :)
    Since the price of gasoline gets higher and higher, I bet in 2030 the price will be really expensive. That's why there should be a car that runs not on gas, but salt water.Why salt water? Well, salt water is not use for many things. We have an abundant supply of salt water. Just fill up the car with salt water and you'll be on the road!
     Not only will there be cool inventions, but also global warming will have its effects in 2030. To keep the effects limited, we should have items preventing flooding from glaciers and other stuff. One idea is to make more future buildings use solar panels. Solar panels will make the world a better place. Solar panels are clean and renewable resources. Why don't many people buy solar panels today? Solar panels are waayyyyyy to expensive. In the future, it would be great if solar panels cost less. That way more people will buy them and make the world a better place, one panel at a time:P. Another big problem of global warming is because there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Why? Factories are polluting way too much, but at the same time, we need factories because they make us stuff we use in every day life. That's why they should build factories that consume less space and are surrounded by trees. If there are lot of trees and pollution, it balances out!!! I hope 2030 will be more earth-friendlier.
      Another cool thing would be to have a moon hotel. Once in three months a space shuttle would take passengers to a two night stay at the moon hotel! This hotel on the moon would have all the supplies of oxygen, food, and other supplies needed for the people. Every three months, astronauts would refill the supplies. As you are inside the hotel, you would be able to view the blue marble, Earth. Other attractions at the moon hotel, will be space walking and collecting moon rocks.
     To see the real 2030, we just have to wait...wait and see. Will any of my predictions come true? Will we have more technology? What effects will global warming have on us? To find out all these, just let curiosity wait. Hope you liked my post and please comment on some ideas or predictions you might have for 2030. Thanks!!
                                              
                                                  

Saturday, January 5, 2013

The Story Behind Candy Canes

I wake up to find that the Christmas spirit is in the air. Bells are ringing, many Christmas trees and decorations are put up. I hear christmas carols. Everyone is shopping, I see cars with Christmas trees on their roofs. One popular Christmas tree ornament is candy canes. ...But how did candy canes come to be? How did candy canes become part of the Christmas tradition? These questions led me to some research. It all began in the 17th century when the European-Christians started the Christmas tree tradition. They used food including candy and cookies as their ornaments. One type of candy on the trees were sugar stick candy. Sugar stick candy was these white sticks of sugar candy. Then, in 1670, a new tradition started during Christmastime. A choirmaster from a church started giving out sugar stick candy that were bent like the shape of our candy canes. The choirmaster bent them out that shape to represent the shape of a shepherd's staff. Soon, the candy canes made its way to America. It was still white but, the candy canes now had decorations including sugar roses. Only after the 1800s were the famous red and white stripes on the candy canes. Soon, the traditional peppermint flavor was added. Many people think that the candy canes are shaped like a "J" as in Jesus's name. Now, the candy cane is a symbol for Christmas.
Recently, candy canes are in many different flavors, colors, and sizes. There are cherry, wintergreen, peppermint and many more flavors. Many candy camea are now branded with a candy company, including "jelly belly" candy canes, "smarties" candy canes, and even "sour patch" candy canes. Personally, I dislike peppermint but I love cherry candy canes. Just looking at the bright colors of the candy canes make me feel so happy and in the holiday mood! Candy canes are a real treat and a remainder for Christmas!

 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Wreck it Ralph


"Wreck it Ralph", a movie rated PG that just came out on November 2, 2012, was a big hit for children of all ages. Ralph, the bad guy of the game, Fix it Felix Jr.,  wants to be a good guy. Ralph is fed up of seeing the glory going to Fix it Felix, so he decides to become a good guy. He is not respected in his game because his job is to be a villain. Even though Ralph has an important job in the game, he has absolutely no recognition. So, Ralph decides that he will become a good guy. Then, he will earn respect from the citizens from his game. Ralph sets off on a game-hopping journey to win a good guy medal. On his way he meets Vanellope von Schweetz, a charming, nine year old girl from the game Sugar Rush. Soon Vanellope wins Ralph's heart and they both become good friends. "Wreck it Ralph" teaches a very important lesson to kids, you should respect everyone no matter what. This movie is about Ralph's journey to become a good guy of the game. This movie also emphasis on the friendship of Ralph and Vanellope that becomes stronger.

"Wreck it Ralph" is a Disney movie produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. This film was directed by Rich Moore, who also has directed many of "The Simpsons" episodes. The cast of this movie include John C. Reilly, who gave the voice for Wreck it Ralph, and Sarah Silverman who gave the voice for Vanellope von Schweetz. This movie included characters from other video games. Bowser from the Mario series and even Pac-Man from the game Pac-Man are in the movie, " Wreck it Ralph".

A very interesting fact that many people don't know is that "Wreck it Ralph" was originally scheduled to release on March 22, 2013. Since it was ahead of its schedule, it was released on November 22, 2012. The very first trailer for "Wreck it Ralph" was released on June 6, 2012. To make this amazing movie it took a whopping $165 million. The movie made $49.1 million in the opening weekend of the movie across 3,752 theaters. This movie beat the 2010 film, "Tangled" which made $48.8 million in its first weekend. I recommend this fantastic movie to all ages! "Wreck it Ralph" is a must see movie!!! Bottom-line, "Wreck it Ralph" is a delightful entertainment for the entire family!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

My Experience Going Ziplining!!!






I had quite an adventure going zip lining this weekend! It was really fun going with my family and friends. We went zip lining in the Santa Cruz Mountains and as I was sliding from tree to tree, I smelled the fresh redwood trees.  We all had heavy and strong harnesses on and it felt as if I gained few extra pounds. We wore special helmets and gloves. All that harness made me doubt myself, why did I say yes to zip lining? Was it a good idea to go on this zip lining tour when we had to wear so much gear? Wasn't it a bit too risky? We had our training on a short zip line... just for some practice. We practiced doing brakes in the middle of the zip line.  We learned what to do in case something happens when we were on the zip line. That made me have butterflies in my stomach. After the training, it was thrill time!!! We walked across a wooden bridge to the first zip line platform, out of five in all. It was time to see who was the chicken and who was not.  I didn't want to be the first one to go on the zip line so I stayed towards the end. But, when it was my turn, I held on tight and closed my eyes tight. I gave a big push off the platform and off I went. I could feel the cool air brush against my face. It felt as if I was on the zip line for many minutes. As I landed on the platform, I realized that it was actually pretty fun! Some zip lines were very high off the ground so we could look below us while we were on the zip line and see the small creeks running under us and we could see people hiking beneath us. The highest zip line was 150 feet above the ground...and that was really breathtaking. Finally, we got to our last platform, Platform 5. After we all finished our zip line tour and landed on the ground, it was amazing that nobody had chickened out :) ! I felt so brave and accomplished that I had gone through an entire zip lining tour. All that zip lining made me wonder, how did zip lining start? To find that out I did some research on it. 
My first zip line
   I was surprised to know that zip lining was an old invention. The thought of a human riding on a cable was brought up in the book, "The Invisible Man", by H.G Wells. In 1793, Robert Cadman died from descending from a church when his rope snapped. Soon after that, Australians used the "flying foxes" to deliver food and supplies if their crew was working on something on the other side of a river. The "flying fox" was used in children's play structures. The flying fox didn't work exactly like the zip lines today. The flying foxes had a box car attached to a cable. The person riding it would sit inside the box car and hold on to the handles. Then, the box car would descend propelled by gravity. Then came the real zip line.  These zip lines were on a higher slope than the flying foxes so they would travel at higher speeds.  But, in these the rider would be attached to the cable by wearing a harness and a helmet. It was around 1970 when zip line tours started. Now, zip lines are a fun way to show of your courage. With proper training, zip lines are easy and safe to use. Zip lining was very fun and thrilling!!!

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