Drones response.

Drones Response

Logan Urfer

2/26/2013

I think that drones could be very useful if used in the right way. Drones make war easier, well, for the people that are controlling them. I think that if drones were used to take pictures of things, such as traffic, or even remote places, such as a school, it would benefit our community. I think that they would be best used for investigations on criminals, since they can fly wherever they want without being spotted. I think that drones should be used for war, as it brings back more soldiers from foreign regions. I just don't like where it could head. I think that if pursued enough, the advancement of drones would make the world so much more advanced, who knows, maybe someone could even create a drone that could fly at super speed, and could reach things that are millions of miles away, or even one that can turn invisible. I think that if America was to build more drones, and less fighter jets, it would end up being cheaper for the government. I also think that drones should only be used by the government, because if it was introduced to just everyday citizens, things could get messy.

Enders game questions 6-8

Chapter 6 – The Giant’s Drink
1. What is the purpose of the "Giant's" Game? How should Ender evaluate his
success at this game? Is he a murderer?
1:The purpose of the Giants Game is to test the students, to see how they react in different situations. Ender should evaluate his success as kinda between good and bad. A good thing is that he had advanced farther in the game than anyone else in Battle School had before. A bad thing is that he killed the giant, which in his eyes is a bad thing, because he doesent want to become a killer, like Peter.

Chapter 7 – Salamander
1. What did Alai say to Ender? Why is the exchange between Alai and Ender so
important?
1:Alai says salaam to Ender. Salaam means peace in the islamic religion. Its so important because it creates a religous bond between the two, keeping them together.

2. What is the "just living" mentioned in this chapter?  Is it true that Ender has never
done this?  What does Ender want out of life?  How would you feel if you were he?
2:Just living means doing the things that normal people do, like playing catch in the yard, cleaning your bedroom, swimming in a pool, playing sports, and even hanging out with your family. Well, to start off, Ender has never had a regular life, hes always been an outsider, since he is a third. But, Ender did “just live” in the first 6 years of his life, but ever since the Battle School, he has not been able to do so. If I was Ender, I wouldent feel safe at Battle School, id feel alone.

3. How did Petra help Ender? How is Petra’s friendship a hindrance to Ender?
3: Petra helped Ender by teaching him how to shoot better. Yes, even though they could be very good friends, she is still an unpopular awkward kid that would only make Enders social situation worse.

4. What does Ender learn about leadership and tactics from Bonzo?
4:Ender was tought that if you act like the head honcho, and act like you know everything, you will be respected throughout your colleagues. Ender had also learned that “Soldiers can sometimes make decisions that are smarter than the orders they've been given” pg (95)

Chapter 8 – Rat
1. Graff says, “Ender Wiggin is ten times smarter and stronger than I am.”  Explain
what this quote means.
1:This quote, to me, means that Graff knows how strong and smart Ender really is, and would feel that if he were in Enders same situation, he wouldnt be doing too well. He also realizes that Enders ability to come up with smart strategies in sticky situations, is a good attribute when going into combat as the commander.

2. What is significant about the quote: “So teach me.”  “So learn.”
2:Dink reply to Ender with  “So learn”, I think this means that if you want to learn something, you have to put in the time and effort to learn it.

3. Why is Ender’s response to an attack so significant?
3:The response was so significant because he showed that he could still battle with the other soldiers, even if he was backed into a corner. After the battle, he still wanted to practice with his launch group. This shows that nothing can get in Enders way, he is a natural leader.

4. What did the scene with the snake and Peter’s reflection represent?
4:I think that this scene said that inorder to defeat one evil, you must find another evil. Since Peter is evil, and the Snake that Ender threw at the mirror was evil, it makes sense. I think it also means that Ender is very afraid to become something evil, like Peter.

5. How does the game know?
5:The game knows about Enders life and the challenges that he has faced in life, but how? The Fairyland game can acces any file or document that the government owns, this includes the monitor.

6. Discuss the importance of the last paragraph of this chapter.
6: Ender hates the feeling of being a mean/violent person. He feels that the Battle School teachers are trying to bring the violence out of him, and it doesn't feel right to him, especially to be used by his fellow teachers. But, I think he needs to realize that he was the one who decided to join the school, he was not forced too by anyone.

CEJ #4

CEJ #5

Egypt hot-air balloon accident kills 19

http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Egypt-hot-air-balloon-accident-kills-19-4311354.php

Logan Urfer

2/26/2013

On february 26,2013, a hot-air balloon had crashed in Egypt near the city of Luxor. While in the air, the balloon had burst into flames. A local farmer had watched this event occur, he said that he had saw 19 people jump out of the balloon in panic, while 1000ft in the sky, and fall to their deaths. One British tourist had survived, as well as the Egyptian tour guide, but had suffered horrible burns in the process. The city of Luxor has suffered since this tragic accident occurred. Luxor is practically a ghost town. Tourists are leaving out of fright. The article described it as       “Luxor is filled with vacant hotel rooms and empty cruise ships”. Some of the authorities are saying that the death of these 19 people were the pilots fault, as he did not do what he was trained for in these certain situations. The cause of the fire was that a cable got caught around a helium tube, and a fire erupted. All hot-air balloon are temporarily suspended for further investigation.

This is obviously an extremely tragic accident, and I wonder what it was like for the people in the balloon. What they must have been thinking when the hot-air balloon had erupted into flames. Only 2 people survived the accident, the Egyptian guide and a british tourist, what are the odds of that? The article did not say if they had chosen to stay in the aircraft or jump like the rest of the passengers did, but all i know is, that they are extremely lucky. I think that the tourists should not run away, they should just stay and enjoy their time, I fully doubt that another accident like that will happen anytime soon. I also dont think that it is the pilot's fault, what was he supposed to do? I think that they are just looking for someone to blame. But, what I don't fully understand is, why did they jump from the hot-air balloon? Wouldn't it be any easier to just stay in the passenger area?

Video Game Response

Videogame Response

Logan Urfer

My favorite game, at the moment, is Minecraft. Minecraft is a game that give you the opportunity to create your own pixelated world and go from there. You can spawn in different biomes. Biomes are certain amount of areas that include some type of theme. Like a jungle biome, a snow biome, a desert biome, or even the ocean. You start out by chopping wood using your hand or an axe. You can craft things with wood such as wooden pickaxes, wooden swords, wooden axes, and wooden shovels. You can also make amazing houses with wood and cobblestone/stone. You can get cobblestone by mining through the ground. While your mining you can find iron, coal and sometimes even diamonds! Diamonds are the best items in the game, but are the hardest to find.
Minecraft is made purely out of java, nothing else. The creators of Minecraft gave the players a way to connect with your friends through a multiplayer server. A Minecraft server can be personalized to the fullest based on the owners needs. You can have a pvp server. A creative server. Even a server that all you do is run around and jump on/off things. Minecraft is such an open source game, that’s why it is so easy to personalize your gameplay experience, because you can take the game and edit the code as you please, no strings attached.

Enders game 1-5

Chapter 1
1. What attitude motivates the adults to lie to Ender?
1: The adults lied to Ender about the monitor because they wanted to see how Ender would react with the monitor removed from his body. He reacted by literally hospitalizing a kid. This impressed the adults.

2:Explain what it seems to mean for Ender to be born a "Third". Show whether this is
a negative or positive fact to:
- his parents: His parents love him, but they feel ashamed to have a third in their family. A third is a third child. In the book, it is illegal to have 3 children.
- his brother, Peter: As Ender is considered “better” than Peter, Peter feels jealous of Ender, as well as angry. But, in the book, Peter shows that he still loves his brother.
- his sister, Valentine: Valentine and Ender have a great bond. Valentine loves
- his classmates.
Chapter 2
1. Was Peter joking when he threatened Ender and Valentine?  Support your answer
with evidence from the novel.

1: Yes, according to Peter, he was. He kinda slowed all his shenanigans down when Valentine and Ender started to get defensive. Also, that night, he snuck into Enders room and said how much he loved him. He also said how sorry he actually was. So, I think he was joking, but I also think that he has quite a few grudges held against Ender.

2.Why is Peter’s behavior at the end of the chapter so completely different from the
rest of the chapter?

2: Peters behavior changes when he sneaks into Enders room and tells Ender that he is sorry for what he did.

3: How do you feel about each of these characters (Ender, Valentine, Peter)?  What
did the author do to help create these feelings

3: I think that Peter is a mean person, because of how he acts towards Ender. The author made Peter out to be the bad guy, because of how jealous he was of Ender. I like Valentine and Ender because of the friendly bond they have between each other. They both kinda defend each other in the situations that involve Peter.
Chapter 3
1:What did Graff mean about evolution working against girls?
1:He meant that in the evolution of humans, men were made out to be the warriors, to fight against the enemies. Woman were made to be reproductive. The ones who gave birth to all the warriors, not the ones who are meant to fight.
2:Ender is leaving to learn how to fight a war, yet he takes Graff’s hand. Why does
Orson Scott Card (OSC) include this action?
2: Graff tells Ender that although he is loved, he is a burden to his family and everything around him, as he is a third. I think the author did this to show graff’s skills in social engineering, but also show that graff was a possible friend to Ender.
Chapter 4
1:Explain the meaning of the following statement: “Individual human beings are tools
that the others use to help us all survive.”
1:I think this statement means that there is this cycle in humanity were others will feed off you to survive. For instance, the population of the world relies on the army to defend their nation. But the army relies on the people to invent new weapons, collect more resources, farm food. No one is ever the victim in this cycle.
2:Explain the following quote: "Isolate him enough that he remains creative -
otherwise he'll adopt the system here and we'll lose him." Your answer should
include the terms: isolation, creative, adopt, lose.
2:I think this quote means the when Ender adapts to the way things are done, he won't be as creative, and he will start to stop thinking on his own two feet. He might start thinking just like everybody else. He won't be making his own battle decisions.
3:Did Ender mean to break the other boy’s arm?  What does this incident tell us about
Ender?  Is it acceptable to do despicable things for survival?  Why or why not?
3:No, Ender did not mean to break the boys arm. It was just self defense. The incident says that Ender does not know really how strong he is, and it also says that he is very emotional, and doesn't like to be messed with. I think this action was acceptable because of the amount of torcher he would have gone through. But if it wasn't as bad as it was in that situation, i dont think it wouldve been acceptable.
Chapter 5 – Games
1. Ender works hard to express his feelings in private and not show homesickness in
front of any other person. Is it healthy for him or not?   What is positive and what is
negative about showing feelings?  What is positive and what is negative about not
showing feelings?
1:On the other hand, it isn't healthy for Ender to keep is feeling in, but it is physically healthy for Ender so people don't think of him as a wuss. The positive things for showing feelings is that people might actually feel bad for you, depending on what you have to go through at home. The negative thing is that, people may make fun of you, depending on how bad it is at home, also, people may not care as much as you do, since its not their life. A positive thing about not showing feelings is that you stay physically safe, you won't be bullied about it, and it won't affect your social life. A negative thing about not showing feelings is that you keep everything bottled up, giving you problems like anger issues.
2:How did Ender beat Bernard?  Is this an unusual solution to his problem?
2:Ender beat bernard by making fun of him in front of all his friends, not by physically beating him, but by emotionally tearing him. Ender wrote a message to everyone saying “Bernard stairs at guys butts!” It was an unusual solution to his problem because he hacked into the system just to mess with Bernard, but it kept Bernard out of command and made him stop being a jerk to everyone.
3:List the different coping mechanisms (ways of dealing with difficulties) Ender
shows. For each one describe whether the overall result of each is helpful or
harmful to Ender.
3: Ender stays to himself, he doesn't try to make friends, he just goes solo. This is a good thing towards Enders physical health because it made him stay away from the bullies. Ender acted as every insult Bernard or the others had directed toward him, was a compliment. This made the bullies mad. because in a way Ender was outsmarting them, and they dont like having someone better than them.

CEJ #3

CEJ #3

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/obama-pushes-for-increase-in-federal-minimum-wage.html?ref=us&_r=0

Logan Urfer

This article stated that Barack Obama(The President of the United States)wants to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to a flat out $9. Studies show that most couples that have a child and work for minimum wage , even if they work full hours for 5 days a week, they still live under the poverty line. Obama stated in one of his speeches that “Let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty.” The White House had also stated that ever since the minimum wage of common everyday workers was raised in 2006, from $5.15 to $7.25, that there has been no significant unemployment raise since then, so why would it affect us now? But, both small and large businesses that rely on minimum wage workers have actually opposed in raising the minimum wage workers because it would obviously increase their business costs.

I think that by increasing the minimum wage rate, we will be decreasing the amount of people below the poverty line. The poverty line is the bare minimum in which a person or person’s can make a year and still afford the most basic costs of living. The article stated that some people thought that by increasing minimum wage, you are also stimulating the economy because of the amount of cash being circulated throughout the United States of America. This statement makes sense, because if you are part of the 1% for example, and you own a company with thousands of employees, that 1% will start making less money than originally, but, eventually, that person will start making more money than before, because he/she has gained more consumers than originally.

CEJ #2

CEJ #2

Logan Urfer

2/8/2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/technology/samsung-challenges-apples-cool-factor.html?ref=technology

BRIAN X. CHEN

New York Times

This article stated that Apple has finally found a worthy opponent, Samsung Electronics. The IPhone, the worlds most bought smartphone on the market, Vs the Samsung Galaxy S3, the world 2nd most bought smartphone on the market. At the moment, Samsung and Apple are neck and neck in sales. As it also stated, Samsung could not get any more different than Apple. Samsung not only makes smartphones and tablets, but also makes more of the home necessities that most homeowners need. Including dryers, cameras, vacuum cleaners etc... Apple on the other hand,  dominate the market with only smartphones and tablets. Samsung, defeats its opponent (Apple) in the earning per year, But Apple still leads in the stock market value.

I have never been a big fan of Apple, or any of its products to be honest, so i'm glad too see that it finally has a competitor in the smartphone market. Hopefully, Samsung's Galaxy S3 will surpass the IPhone in sales, that's just my opinion. But, Samsung makes a lot of its revenue on other appliances, not just off their smartphones, so i have to applaud Apple for making its revenue only off its IPhone's and IPad's. But I still think that Apple overpriced their products, and is desperate enough to make a new IPad for what it seems like every 6 months. I think Apple is a great company, but I hope Samsung will surpass them in the future.