Super Memory

             As I was browsing my web homepage (it's Yahoo!) I spotted a featured article titled "People with Super Memory". Since we have been discussing memory in class quite a lot, I thought I would benefit from it. In fact, the article was fascinating. It was about four individuals who are confirmed with a condition called ‘super memory’. All of these people can tell you what happened on a random date and most can remember everything in their life starting at a young age. Most of the people have written books about their condition and one man is in talks of a production. But I have to wonder, would this positively or negatively affect their life? I can see it being helpful at some points in their life but most times it must be problematic. Would you like to have a ‘super memory’? It’s interesting to think about what it would be like if you did! (Image via Yahoo)

Digital IS Better!

       It seems like the whole country has gone digital in the past few years. Personally, I always thought the idea of receiving paper snail mail rather than e-mail has a nice sincere touch to it. Not only have personal letters gone digital but now it seems that bills and invoices will be coming in your e-mail inbox! For example, T-Mobile has decided to “go green”. This “paperless billing” started a while back but they are now charging an extra $1.50 to your bill if you receive it in the mail. If you decide not to receive your invoice in the mail, you will get your bill online. The results are what shocked me most (in a positive way). T-Mobile said that if all 16.5 million costumers went digital they would save an annual savings of 10.8 million pounds of paper, which is saving about 13,500 trees!
       This only furthered my questioning, what if all mail went digital? Do you think this could ever work? I know, this is a big statement, but think about how many trees we could save with having only online magazines, catalogs, and greeting cards!

President Obama Expects Great Things

       When we discussed President Obama's speech about staying in school on Friday it was hard to imagine what exactly he was going to say. As I was looking for something to blog about, the New York Times posted an article that said the White House posted the President's prepared remarks. Curious, I clicked the link and read his planned speech. There was one line that struck me most. He said,  "We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country”.
       Okay, so you are telling me that if one person drops out of school there will be a major concern in our country? Is this even realistic? If the number of drop-outs were particularly large, I get his point. But I don't think that if there is one less accountant, flight attendant, or security guard in our country it would make such a difference. Not all of us are going to solve “the most difficult problems” and go into politics. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the whole idea behind President Obama’s speech, but I just wish he could be a little more realistic.
    The rest of Obama's planned speech can be read here.

Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man?

The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well known and beloved companies here in America. Today, Disney expanded its family. The company purchased Marvel Entertainment Inc, home of Spider-Man, the incredible Hulk, and X-men. And it was not cheap. It cost Disney a whopping $4 billion. This may seem like a good move because Disney only attracts a certain range of people. Disney shows like Hannah Montana and bands like the Jonas Brothers only attract the teenage girl crowd. Now with Marvel included, Disney hopes to bring in the male audience more. The company now owns a catalog of 5,000 Marvel characters. Will this be enough to bring in the male age range of 8-18? Yes most likely it will. Movies like Iron Man certainly was attractive to that age range. Disney hopes to broaden their audience but what will happen to the kid-friendly attitude Disney currently has? Will the violent structure of Marvel put a dent in Disney's magical label? Could Disney lose an audience by promoting some racy content? On the other hand, will Marvel lose any audience by becoming 'Disneyfied'? This merge will be interesting to see when it occurs.