2nd Required Blog

I just reviewed an article I found on Slashdot titled "Why Exercise Boosts Brainpower." In the article it states that after doing a study on mice, test results showed they grew new brain cells in a brain region called the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus that is known to be affected in the age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most humans. Exercise boosts brainpower by building these new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss. I thought the article was pretty interesting, and it just proves to show that exercise will not only benefit the body, it is now proven to benefit the brain as well.

4th Wikipedia Edit

I just completed my fourth edit on Wikipedia today in the Long Beach Island, NJ article. For this edit, I added "Long Beach Island is known to attract more of a family-oriented crowd and deviates from the crazy beach vacation one might experience in other beach towns such as Belmar and Seaside Heights." I decided to add this to the article so that readers would get a better feel for what the island has to offer. I know when I think about going on a beach vacation, I look for an area with a great deal of attractions; maybe the resort area has a boardwalk, a strech of bars, or lots of things to do during the day. At least for vacationers my age, LBI doesn't offer the crazy night-life that most college students wish to experience on their beach vacation, but it does offer a great place to spend some quality time with close friends and family.

2nd Comment on Class Material

After class on Friday, I looked over some of our required blogs and saw that the Viacom vs. Google situation is getting a great deal of attention in the blogosphere. After reading over the article in class, it was hard for me to take a side because I could see where both company's were coming from. Ultimately, I think Viacom is right in saying that their material should not be on YouTube without authorization, but under current law, Google is not doing anything wrong. If Google were putting up unauthorized media on their site, or promoting/allowing users to add media that is not authorized, then Viacom would definitely win the lawsuit. Until more formal and intricate web-based laws are enacted, more and more cases like this will come about in the future, so it's important for lawmakers to take action ASAP.

1st Required Blog

I just recently came across an article on Slashdot about Stephen Hawking and his thoughts on the origin of the universe. Since he is a very popular scientist, I decided to check out the article to see what he had to say. According to Hawking, he believes the universe spontaneously popped into existence from nothing. Hawking spoke about this subject to a sold out crowd at the Berkeley Physics Oppenheimer Lecture and his speech can be viewed through a webcast from this site.

3rd Wikipedia Edit

I just completed my third edit on Wikipedia, in the article Surf Culture. Within the article, I made an addition to the Surf Pop category of music and added Fenix Tx's Surf Song. Right when I looked under the Surf Pop category, I immediately thought of this song because I used to listen to it all the time when it first came out. I actually still have the CD, and even though the song is super corny now, I can still recite every single word =)

1st Comment on Class Material

After discussing the different surveys in class, I decided to take the VALS survey. My result was an Experiencer. According to the survey: "Experiencers are motivated by self-expression. As young, enthusiastic, and impulsive consumers, Experiencers quickly become enthusiastic about new possibilities but are equally quick to cool. They seek variety and excitement, savoring the new, the offbeat, and the risky. Their energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities. Experiencers are avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Their purchases reflect the emphasis they place on looking good and having "cool" stuff."

I don't agree with the results and I don't think it gives an accurate representation of the individual taking it mainly because it's comprised of less than 50 questions. I think they should lengthen the survey and include different types of questions that aren't so similar to each other, which will most likely produce more accurate results.

2nd Wikipedia Edit

I completed my second wikipedia edit on Long Beach Island, NJ. My hometown is right over the bridge from LBI, so I was able to add some information about one particular section of the island. I plan to add more local information to the page over the semester so if anyone is interested, or wants to make some additions, click the Long Beach Island link above!

1st Team mate Post

I just looked over my group mate's wikipedia edit on the Deer Park Tavern and I thought it was great that she created a new article for it. I thought it was a good choice in using Deer Park as one of her topics since all of the students in our class are very familiar with it and can help her by making different recommendations and additions to the page. If anyone does want to help her out or check out her progress, her blog can be found at Nicole's Blog.