Ender's Game

Ender's Game is one of those books where you have to read it over twice to understand what they are talking about. Despite all the confusion I go through reading this book, I really like it. It reminds me of Harry Potter a lot, which makes things easier for me to understand. Ender reminds me of myself because he can excel in a lot of categories which the Battle School loves, but he doesn't know what to do with his intelligence sometimes. I do the same thing when it comes to athleticism. I learn from watching others and beating them because I know their strengths and weaknesses in a matter of minutes (it's cool I know). That is what makes me keep turning the page because it relates to the fantasy movies that I love and it relates to myself very well.

The Thing

WHY?! Why did this movie have to be so disgusting and strange?! The movie was pretty good but nothing that I could believe in. I can honestly say that after watching this movie, I do know that this could not happen. But if somehow it did, the species would be wiped out completely if it came close to heavier populated civilization.
I am surprised that we watched this movie in class because most of the movie that we watch have a purpose. The Thing was mostly about horror and crazy people with crazy names. I did enjoy the movie though. It kept me interested with the nonstop mutating of aliens, my love of digs, and of course Kurt Russell.

Aliens Essay

Like the author of this essay, I also believed that aliens were real. When I was little,  I would watch E.T. all the time because I wanted to have a friend from another world. Steven Spielberg created something that everyone could have suspected that almost makes me believe that if we encountered an alien, we would not be scared or surprised. I also think that aliens could only be a mere fantasy. I do believe that there is another form of life somewhere out there, but they would never find us and we would never find them.
I agreed with this essay because the author used many resources and used personal experiences that made me move to a certain side of believing in extra terrestrials. He mentions that most of our beliefs from aliens come from the media. How we expect them to look, eat, and act is all based off of other people's ideas. I agree to this statement because even though E.T. was awesome, he wasn't real. He was a creation from what we would want to see. But it was still a great movie.

Sandkings

One of the most horrifying stories I have ever read, Sandkings by George R.R. Martin was freakishly amazing. His details about the sandkings eating dead bodies and morphing into human form made me squirm and constantly itch. I have a fear of bugs crawling on me during the night and this story will surely give me nightmares. Martin's main character, Simon Kess, also made me hallucinate a little bit. Since I am so terrified of creepy crawlers, I could put myself in Kess' position and witness the horrific events. 

What was very interesting to me also was Martin's futuristic "tools". For example the skimmer which was a hovering car and skinthins which I still do not understand what they are, were things that I noticed. In the beginning of the story I wasn't very interested in Kess' animals so I suddenly dozed off (as always when I read any book). But once I started getting into it and trying to understand it, let's just say that I am still itching.

GE WattStation

 Over the week, while I was researching my topic about EV (electric vehicle) charging stations, I stumbled upon the Ecomagination website. If you don't know about the Ecomagination Challenge, it is a quest to find the best projects to help our world become a cleaner one. GE and other companies funded $200 million into this program. There are many innovative projects for Ecomagination, but I only paid attention to this charging station. Designed by Yves Behar, this easy access charging station was created to make charging more realistic, fun, and interesting rather than a chore at the gas station. These stations will be places in parks, stores, or you can even buy one for the house. There will also be an iPhone application that will help find a charging station in your area. When charging at the station, it will be the same as at a gas station. All you have to do it park the car, slide your credit card which unlocks the handle, and plug it into your car. The screen at the top tell you where you are from full charge. For example, if the screen says 82%, it will also tell you that you have 45 minutes from full charge. Yes it does take a long time to charge, but like a cell phone, it is rare when you run on empty because the battery lasts for song long. The best part is the cost per kWhr. It is less than a dollar! I think I might just go and get an electric car after college.

Technologic

Like the baby in this picture, Americans are too dependent on technology. After watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, I realized how much I rely on my phone and my car. If those important “necessities” ever shut down or suddenly wanted to kill me, I would freak out and only worry about my technology than the rest of the world and it’s horrific problems. Then after reading Malcolm’s rant in Jurassic Park about how science is raping the natural world, it made me open my eyes to how corrupt our society is in the future as being technology everywhere and no one wants to mention the dangerous risks to using it. There are some benefits of technology in emergency situations and for medical purposes, but when it comes to entertainment, Americans don’t even bother to go outside for fresh air, they would rather play video games or keep up on their Facebook pages.

What would happen if all of our technology necessities suddenly disappeared? Would we have more healthy lifestyles or try to recreate our prized possessions? I believe that someone, maybe me, will soon step up and say enough is enough and that we need to start becoming a healthier future.