Selfie Sticks

I feel like the selfie stick is a great invention for those who want to take their selfies to the next level, but I can see them as a dangerous piece of equipment as well. An article written by Peter Terlato on businessinsider.com, said “Like our institutional counterparts, we do not allow selfie sticks due to the risk of damage to artworks and other patrons.” I can see how dangerous selfie sticks can be, and I guess the companies and businesses have rights to ban the selfie stick and I see why. Selfie sticks can actually be pretty dangerous when not used correctly, and I mean, the aren't really that necessary when taking a photo. I never really used a selfie sticks so I do not know if it makes taking a photo easier or what, but I feel like if we do not really need it, and there are enough injury cases to prove that it is dangerous, then it is completely fine that people are banning it from different areas around the world.

I did not really think it would be that dangerous, but after seeing some photos of people taking photos at "interesting" times, the selfie stick can encourage people to take bizarre photos.

Oldanchorinn posted this picture of a man attempting a stick selfie while in a moving car.

At a first glance, this picture threw me off. Being Canadian, I thought that the person taking the photo was also the driver, but because this picture was taking in the UK, the driver is on the right. It might not seem that bad to take a picture like this, but to me, it is kind of dangerous. The stick looks pretty long so it would be hard to balance, and if he did not have the balance, he could have broke his phone/camera just for a photo of him in a car. It is a pretty cool photo but I would not take a photo like that myself.

To conclude, I would just like to start off by saying I do not think the selfie sticks are the reason why they are dangerous, they were not made for that purpose. It is simply just how you use it that can be dangerous, and I feel like if an area has a reason to ban selfie sticks, then people should not complain.

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Communication

The world is quickly evolving, especially in technology. Though, I would like to talk about a lot of the advancements in the world, I will focus on the evolution of digital communication with artificial intelligence (AI) like phones and computers. The technological advancements in the world and the future technological advancements of AI will make digital communicating easier and more accessible. Already with smartphones, digital communication has become much easier because we can talk to anyone, anywhere at anytime. In the future, it is hard to imagine what phones will be like. I would like to see little holographic tools we hold that show a hologram of the person you are talking to like in Star Wars, but I don't know if that will be a thing. Alongside smartphones, we are making quick progress in the world in terms of AI and digital communication with smart watches. Smart watches have been awhile but there has been an evolution where people can now sync their phone of the same company (for example, apple watch with iPhones and smart watches for android) and use their watch just as they would use their cellphones for talking and such. I would never think that this concept would be a reality because I didn't think people would use their watch as a regular watch as well as an extension of their phone. I expect many more evolutions in this type of technology and the future seems bright, and I am very excited to see the future technological advancements in digital communication.

Taken from capitalmarketlabs.com

Playoff Predictions

https://d2gbv5mk5rrsfm.cloudfront.net/production/4226/playoffs2014.jpg?1401583555

The playoffs of the NBA are in full pursuit. With the top eight teams of each conference competing to go the finals, there is a lot of speculation for who is going to actually make the finals. Teams that come to mind are the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. But let's dive into this topic and predict who would make it to the finals and who would win.

West
The teams that would make the Western Conference Finals in my opinion would be the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. If these teams were to face each other, I feel like Golden State would come out on top in 7 games. Reasons being  MVP Candidate Stephen Curry, his fellow splash brother Klay Thompson, Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes proved that they are one of the best starting units in the NBA. Pair that with an amazing bench and Coach of the Year Candidate Steve Kerr, this team looks like they would defeat the Houston Rockets. But this battle wouldn't be so easy for the Warriors. When you think of MVP, you automatically envision Stephen Curry, but James Harden should also come to mind. Both averaging similar numbers, James Harden is proving that he is the best shooting guard in the NBA and he deserves an MVP consideration. Put him with Dwight Howard and Josh Smith, and you have a championship contending team. The only reason I feel confident in saying the Warriors would win in the end is because of the injuries that are on the side of the Rockets. Two key factors in the Rockets' successful season were Patrick Beverly and Donatas Montiejunas, who are both injured and are unable to participate in the playoffs.

East
The obvious pick in the east is the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the best player in the league, LeBron James and with young superstar Kyrie Irving, the Cavs are looking to make the finals as there is no team stronger than them on the east, in my opinion. The biggest threat I can think of are the Bulls because of Derrick Rose's rise in the playoffs. Along with Kevin Love's recent injury, the Bulls are the only threat, but if they can beat the Bulls, the ride to the finals should be easy for them as any opponent coming from the upper bracket shouldn't be a problem for the Cavs.

Finals
Even with the injury to Kevin Love, I still feel like if the Cavaliers and the Warriors make the finals, the Cavs would come out on top. In a 7 games series, I have the Cavs coming out on top because of their defense and the way their offense rolls. LeBron James is still the best player in the world even if he doesn't get the MVP which has not been announced yet. The main scoring players on the Warriors are Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are sharpshooters. This can be a problem against Cavs because of their defense with Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving. It is not all in the favor of the Cavs though, LeBron is known for being a player who cannot be guarded. But against the Warriors, Draymond Green will be defending him, an elite defender who was a runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. This is the real test for Green, because if he cannot shutdown or slow down LeBron, the Cavs will most likely come out on top.

Stereotypes or Stereo-Gripes

Stereotypes...

We've all heard them, and we've probably said them as well. But this one is interesting. The video below demonstrates a stereotype that people say about a Chevrolet truck compared to a standard car. In the video they questioned young children, "mature people," young single women, rich housewives and guys with beards. The reactions, the same for everyone. The people conducting the experiment showed two pictures: one with  a guy standing beside a truck and the same guy but he was standing beside a car (a Toyota). The people then asked questions like "who guy is more handsome?" or "which man is sexier?" The reactions were that the guy on the left with the truck is more handsome. Also, when they were asked "which one of these guys would you rather have date your daughter" and they said they would rather have the guy on the left with the truck date their daughters. One person even said the man on the right would be the man her mom would want her daughter to marry. but the man on the left with the truck would be the man the daughter would most likely date and leave the guy with the normal car for the guy with the truck, even though both of the men were identical in looks. I feel like the responses are very stereotypical and that it is not fair to judge a man by their car, even though both men are identical in looks! I can see how they think trucks make men more manly, which can be true, but the fact that it was the same guy beside both cars and they still judged the two men based off of the car/truck, it just shows that this advertisement can be offensive to some men or women. For example, men could say that they just because they don't drive a truck, it wouldn't make the person sexier or more handsome. For women, they could say the same thing, like just because a man drives a car and not a truck, he would be less handsome, etc. Personally, I am not offended because I don't drive a car, but I can see people who drive a car being offended.

Another example of a stereotypical ad is "Always #LikeAGirl" where an organization called "always" surveyed young boys and girls and young adults. They asked them to do an action based on what they say. They asked the subjects to run like a girl, throw like a girl and fight like a girl. All of the responses excluding the young girls resulted in the stereotype of girls being all puny and such. They ran on the spot all flimsy and puny and fought just by throwing their arms like a wimp. But. the young girls didn't run like the others, they ran as a "normal" person would run, they fought like a "normal" person and they threw a ball like a "normal" person, which defeats the stereotype and does not make it seem like only guys can run, fight or throw like that. When they were asked later questions like did why do you think people use it "like a girl" as an insult or how people feel when they are insulted with that. People reacted by saying it drops the person's self-confidence, it makes them feel bad, etc. One boy was asked if he insulted his sister by his response and he said he didn't insult his sister, but he insulted girls. This stereotype is a problem in society and clubs like Gender Justice of Mary Ward C.S.S. make people aware of these problems. I feel like the term "like a girl" is highly offensive to anyone where they could be offended because they were told they threw like a girl or girls around could be offended when they hear someone say this person throws like a girl. The ad is available in the video below, I advise you check it out as it makes us aware of social problems in the world today.

Rusty Fred

In suburban Atlanta, there is a barber named Russell Frederick who disciplines children by cutting their hair in a very creative way. He works at A-1 Kutz and he gives haircuts that make someone look older than they are and humiliate them on social media and in their everyday lives.

Taken from rusty_fred's Instagram

Take this picture for example, the caption of this picture read, "So u wana act grown... well now u look grown too." He also wrote more things like "The grown-up kids special. Bring more bad kids to @a1_kutz for this kut." After this young boy received his haircut, he immediately started behaving and even joked about his hair. Another example is where the barber gave his son Rushawn a "grown-up kids special" for having bad grades and afterwards, Russell Frederick noticed his son doing better and trying harder in his academics, saying that his grades dramatically skyrocketed after his haircut.

I feel like this is a great way of punishing your child. It is clearly better than shooting your daughter's laptop or yelling and screaming at your daughter. In addition, it will make the kid try to fix his/her mistakes because it would be terrible to be humiliated with a haircut like the one's Russell Frederick gives. I do think it is somewhat immature on the adults parts, but they have reason to discipline their children in any way they want and it does help them get away from yelling or hitting their children. Also, after the haircut has humiliated the child, the barber's fix the haircut to make it look normal. An example is the child in the picture above, that was him after his punishment and this was his hair after he has learned his lesson:

Taken from A1-Kutz's Facebook page

I like what Russell Frederick and all of the barbers at A1-Kutz are doing because in the end, they do fix their hair so they don't look bad even after they fix their attitude. In conclusion, I feel like this is a good thing for the children and the parents and A1-Kutz have a creative way of disciplining their children.

Twitter

I fell like everyone has the right to express their feelings, and that right should not be taking away from people, to an extent. Many people use Twitter to express their feelings or current events that are happening around them. And just like if you say something offensive/rude to someone in person, that could lead to you getting in serious trouble. Using Twitter, just because it is online and you are behind a screen, doesn't mean you are safe from the people you are saying offensive/rude things to. I am not sure if there is a law for this but honestly I feel like a law is not needed for the online bullying and smack talk of other people through Twitter. It would probably be best if people just reported the bad things that were being said online like on YouTube where people can flag a video and it can be removed based on the amount of flags. It something is said that you take offence to, for example, I hate my school or my teachers suck. Then the person being made fun of or being treated rudely online should report the online harassment and block the person saying it. 

I've watched many YouTubers who always have to deal with haters on every type of social media like YouTube itself, Facebook, Twitter and many more. Whatever they post on YouTube they will always have haters. The way some YouTubers react to the haters is simply not caring or just blocking the person. That way you don't have to deal with them anymore. Twitter itself shouldn't need to change, it should be the people using it. Twitter does include a block button, mute button and report button. These can help "block out the haters." I always hate when people tend to send mean tweets online because I just hate people being bullies in general. The only way to stop these people is to actually do something, much like if you say someone getting bullied at school, you would tell the teacher. People who see the online bullying should not just disregard it and take a laugh or be bystanders, we need to act upon bad things we see and report the person/persons doing the online harassment and work together.

Twitter logo found from vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net

P.S. : I don't know why the font for my first paragraph is different, I do not know how to change it.