Tech Article 2/20

"Apple Is Forming an Auto Team"

• The Apple company has been trying to assemble a team to work on an automobile 
• About 200 people have been recruited from Apple and other companies that may be potential competitors in order to create the technology for an electric car 
• Apple has hired engineers from A123 Systems, Tesla and Toyota to work on these advanced battery technologies, which are still a work in progress 
• Apple claimed that this car project is probably many years away from being a successful product 
• Apple also claimed that this product may never even reach the mass market if the vehicle's quality does not impress Apple's executives 

Web 2.0: Multimedia Blog Pre-Posting

evolution

      One of the classes I am taking this year is AP Biology. My AP Biology teacher is Mr. Colarusso, whose website with more information can be found by clicking here. When the class first started, I expected to learn about numerous topics such as evolution, cell life, and photosynthesis. I have learned about all of those topics in class so far along with others that I did not expect to learn at first, such as chemistry and genetics. Check out my AP  Biology textbook to view more of the topics I will eventually cover throughout the course of the year.

osmosis lab

      Although AP Biology can be very difficult, there are aspects of the class that I do like. Some of the labs that we do during class are really enjoyable, especially because I like to be hands on. One example of a lab I enjoyed doing was when we tested osmosis by using pink dye and experimenting with how it can diffuse into a plastic bag filled with water when it is placed in a container of water. Aside from the labs, I also enjoy learning about certain topics during class, such as evolution and genetics, because they are very interesting to me.

      Technology is incorporated in my AP Biology class in several different ways. For example, we will sometimes use laptops to research online for more reliable information about certain topics. Also, we often do virtual labs in which we have to use a laptop to conduct the experiment online while viewing it from the projector. Lastly, my teacher will find helpful videos online to show the class to help us better understand what we are learning.

Tech Article 2/12

"Samsung Tweaks Television Policy Over Privacy Concerns"

• The Samsung company recently updated a privacy policy for its Internet-connected Smart TV line of sets, which allows users to operate their TV's with verbal commands 
• The policy states, “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.” 
• This policy created many complaints from Samsung users because it seems to imply that Samsung is able to eavesdrop on its users 
• Samsung cleared up this so called "confusion" by posting a new explanation about how the system works, explaining that the voice commands are only received when the users click an activation button and speak into the microphone embedded in the remote 
• Samsung also said that the voice commands feature could be turned off completely if users would like 

Multimedia post 2/10

Click here  to see one of my favorite beaches that I've been to.

Do Now 2/9: Educational Technology and Copyright Laws

After reading this article, I learned the true definition of "copyright" and the laws pertaining to it. I learned that the four rights automatically given to an individual who has copyrighted work are that he or she is able to reproduce the work, publicly display the work, prepare derivative work based on the first work, and/or give out copies of the work to the public. Also, it explained the fair use of copyright, including the law that states what is not regarded as an infringement of copyright. Photos that are "licensed", for example, are not subject to fair use by others.

February 12 Weekly Tech Article

"Twitter’s Revenue Grows Despite User Stagnation" 

• the number of Twitter users is surprisingly low to the company, being only about one fifth of the amount of users who use Facebook 
• analysts expected Twitter to have about 291 million regular users by this time, but it only has about 288 million 
• Twitter surpassed analysts' expectation of $453 million for revenue, however, by having revenue of $479 million in the fourth quarter 
• Twitter's revenue rose up 97 percent compared with $243 million a year ago 
• Twitter recently reported a profit of $79 million, which is a huge increase compared to its profit of $10 million a year ago 

Welcome to my Blog

My name is Kristina and I am a senior. I like to dance, eat, and go out with my friends. I have two siblings, a younger brother and sister, and a dog. My best friends are Cali, Ariana, Alexa, Stephanie, and Jessica. The classes I am taking this year are Web 2.0, AP English, Genetics, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP Biology, and gym. I'm planning on going away to college and majoring in Occupational Therapy. Over the summer, I am going to Atlantic City for nationals for dance and going on a cruise for vacation.