PLN 5

The article “The Mechanical Battery” talks about a flywheel which is basically a cylinder on a spit. When a flywheel is spun, the gathered kinetic energy from the spinning will create energy that can be stored or used. The flywheel has been used in the past but hasn’t been used to its full potential. In Switzerland there was a bus with a flywheel engine which weighed around three tons. The bus could stop and the battery would take 30 seconds to 3 minutes to charge and could go about 3 to 6 miles at 30 to 40 miles per hour. But since the motor weighed so much and the friction of the motor was so great that the bus would have to stop regularly to keep moving. Today NASA is using the flywheel in space because there wouldn’t be any friction. While using two flywheels in an orbiting shuttle, we are able to steer the shuttle. If both are moving at the same speed then the shuttle will go straight but if one slows down and the other stays the same, then you can turn. The great thing about the flywheel is that it is 85%-95% more efficient then any other motor on the planet right now. If we figure out a way to use a flywheel in a car, then we could be very green very fast because the flywheel doesn’t have any emissions. The flywheel sounds like a great motor but I think that we should take the motor part off keep the arm and cook something on it.

PLN 4

On Dr. Warschauer's blog, he has the question posted: Lots of people think that computers are a waste of money, and that students should be learning important skills like writing and reading rather than wasting time on computers. Do you agree that computers in the classroom are a waste of time and money? Why or why not? In my opinion, computers are not a waste of time and money because they improve productivity. Prior to the mass use of personal computers there was the typewriter. Typewriters required you to completely retype your document after you had edited it and typed it for the first time. Computers enable us to type, edit, email and print documents without having to retype the document two or more times. This makes us more productive. If you are working on a project for school you can save the document on a thumb drive and take it with you anywhere to be used on any computer. You can also email the document to another person in your group and combine the documents. The productivity rate since computers were introduced has skyrocketed. We are now able to do research, copy and site our research in our papers without leaving the computer. Lastly, online shopping is available for everything that we can purchase in stores and have it shipped to us. Now there is no need to use your own gas when you can use someone else’s. Those are some of the reasons that I think computers are not a waste of time and money.

PLN 3

The article “Apple unveils iPad, bets on new device class” by Gabriel Madway and Alexei Oreskovic talks about the new unveiling of the Apple “iPad”. In an online survey before the meeting, 37 % of more than 1,000 people said that they would pay $500-$699 for the iPad. Nearly 30% said that they weren’t interested, and the other 20% said that they would pay $700-$899. This new device claims to be the new bridge between the smart phone and the laptop. What they are never really clear about in the article is if the iPad is also a phone, because if it is, then that would be a very large phone. The screen is over 9 inches which would require some very deep pockets in both meanings of the phrase. The iPad is almost the exact same as the iPhone, both can run movies, and music while playing games. The difference is the iPad comes loaded with Microsoft Office. It has a touch keypad which is separate from the actual iPad itself. It also comes with a SD card port and USB port. The iPad can display books like Amazon’s Kindle and with the iBook store; users will be able to find over 4,000 titles. The iPad price will be $499 with 16 gigabytes of storage and if you add an extra $130, you can add on the wireless internet package. Following the introduction of the iPad, Apple shares rose 5.5%. AT&T will be partnering with Apple again, which makes me think that the iPad is a phone, and if it is, hopefully it has speaker phone. It should have a speaker phone or Bluetooth on it because; I wouldn’t want to be holding a 9+ inch “phone” up to my ear. I think that the iPad has real potential but I will be in the group of the uninterested because I have an iTouch which is the same thing as the iPhone without the actual phone part. Not to be negative, but I don’t think this has been one of Apples best ideas.

PLN 2

The article “GOP Congressional Report Accuses ACORN of Political corruption, Widespread Fraud” by FoxNews.com talks about when ACORN was accused of corruption after it was found out that they had been receiving $53 billion since 1994 and have been marked as a tax-exempt business which means that when they receive money they don’t have to pay taxes on it because of religious of other reasons. But what ACORN did with that money is they lent it to Obama and his personal campaign while he was running for president. When you are marked as a tax exempt business you aren’t allowed by law to have a public political opinion about anything because you are for the people and by the people. So when they gave the money to the Obama campaign, they were breaking the law. I think that someone should have said something about that besides Fox News because this is a vital issue if one of our large aid type businesses goes political and promotes one party then it will only be covered by the other side. Also if only the people that watch Fox News are going to hear the truth and the people watching the other networks that are going to reinvent the truth to keep the people oblivious. Which goes with the quote “Ignorance is bliss” meaning that keeping the people dumb will keep them happy. Now by taking away the factor of the people that lent the money I probably would be typing this article on something else.