One Week Until...Season 10 of Smallville Begins!

Question of the Day: Who is YOUR superhero?

For those of you who have followed my blog for a long while (and I appreciate that!), you probably know that my favorite show is Smallville and that my favorite superhero of all time
is indeed Clark Kent, aka Superman. Just a brief 1-phrase summary, Smallville is about Clark Kent growing up (from childhood to adolescence to early adulthood) and how he came to be who he is today: The Man of Steel.

This television series first started out as a WB show and is now hosted by The CW. It was actually my sister who discovered Smallville in 2000, and now...ten years later, the very last season is about to begin on September 24th. 8pm.

EEK!!! No words can express the excitement as well remorse mixing and mingling within me during these final days leading up to Season 10.



In addition, I just bought my Comic of the Year! What is that, you ask? Well, starting in 2009, I decided that each year from then on I would buy myself a very nice Superman comic book as an incentive for myself. Kind of like a self-Christmas present, a pat on my own back, you get the drift. One thing I love about the students stores here at the college is how they have a diverse multitude of books to choose from...including graphic novels and comic books. ;)

Aaaand luckily it was on sale for 25% off that day! I just couldn't resist...

(Sorry for the bad camera quality here...couldn't get a good vertical shot; and yes, my camera is now fixed! :))

What happens when you combine the extraterrestrial powers of Superman with the gadgets and bad-ass attitude of Batman together? A comic book that's sure to be riveting...so bad-ass that it's out-of-this-world! :P

Oh yeah. Gotta' love it when Superman rips his shirt open to reveal the amazing S. And, of course, Batman's 60-pack abs, mysterious look, and dangerous toys are pretty darn awesome if you ask me.

The colors and shading and glossiness in this comic novel are sooo intense and full of depth...HUGE props to the publisher and the artists for using such awesome tools of creation!

So do any of you collect comics or know anybody else who does? (If so, YAY! I'm not the only nerd here!) What television shows are you just dying to watch and absolutely cannot WAIT for their premieres to air?

~TRA

One Week Until...Season 10 of Smallville Begins!

Tweet

Blog Post Coming Up Tomorrow

Yup. =) And it shall be epiccc.

Got a Chemistry mid-term tomorrow, YIKES.

So I am totally studying my arse off tonight for that.

Not that I haven't done some already. xD

This weekend, I am dedicating time to

improving my blog and adding/revising pages. :)

Be ready!!!

Have a Thrilling Thursday.

Blog Post Coming Up Tomorrow

Tweet

Social Networking: Pros and Cons

Question of the Day: Do you think social networking sites are worth the time?

Facebook. Twitter. eHarmony. deviantArt. Tumblr. And a thousand others. These are the names of the many social networking sites that have people all over the country--and, indeed, the world--on their electronics for hours at a time. "Friend" has become a verb, and the members of the opposite sex are meeting up after being introduced to each other online. Even companies are advertising online with their own FB groups, attracting costumers by posting pictures of their products and special Sales.

There is so much that is done through the World Wide Web, and scientists are working everyday to create even more technology--electronics that are even faster, easier to use, and ultimately better than their precedessors. Better electronics means more ways to use the Internet, and nowadays the use the Internet often means the use of SNS. Honestly, I can't walk into any Lecture class 5 minutes early and not see at least ten or fifteen people Facebook stalking.

Now, I have to admit that I am one of those people who enjoys socializing online. Indeed, I also have a Facebook, and used to have a Myspace as well. And, of course, I have a Blogspot. xD But of course, everything has something good and something bad about it, not excluding SNSs. The question is, are the pros worth going through the cons?

Major Pros:
-Easier communication with friends, family, and acquaintences. You can keep up with what your high school sweetheart is up to now as well as advertise Yard Sales and other Events
-Globalization. People from Asia can talk to people from England, and so on. The sharing of each other's cultures, beliefs, and ways of living are exchanged and overall humans become more aware of what else is going on around the world and just how similar/different people of another race or culture is. These sites connect the world.
-Boosts economy in a way, what with advertising of company/individual products and online selling/buying and collaboration of businesses.
-Saves time. If you want to advertise a Birthday party, yard sale, wedding, or other event, you can just make an event and invite your friends digitally
-Critique. On deviantARt, Blogspot, etc. you can post your thoughts, reviews, artwork, and writing and gain feedback. And vice versa.
-Fast, easy, efficient.

Major Cons:
-Risk on your safety. There have been numerous incidents of people--young and old, male and female--getting kidnapped, raped, or even killed after meeting their online beaus in real life. Besides, you never know when some creep is looking at the photos you just posted of you in your bathing suit at a beach party.
-Scams, viruses, and identity theft. There's nothing more horrifying than these three things.
-You need to GAL, as in Get A Life. Sure, the people you talk to and socialize with on the sites are REAL people, but there comes a time each day where you need to go outside and play ball and smell the fresh air. Look at something OTHER than your computer screen.
-It's more likely you'll get arthritis and other hand/wrist-related injuries. But of course, you can get those not just from social networking sites but from being on the computer too long, period.

So, my lovely bloggity friends: What do you think about social networking sites? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons, or vice versa? What social networking sites do you use, and for what purpose (advertising, keeping in touch, etc.)?

~TRA

P.S. I absolutely PROMISE that my next post will not be about the digital era! =P Promise.

Social Networking: Pros and Cons

Tweet

Screens Got My Eyes Frazzled

Question of the Day: Have computer, television, eBook, and other forms of digital screens affected the way you read text?

Getting used to college has been an enormous task. There's the issue of adapting to the new types of transportation (since I live off-campus and go to a very large school) such as using my legs much more often than I did in high school and relying on buses instead of motor vehicles and small cars. There's the matter of always having to consume cafeteria and dining hall food instead of Mom's hot and fresh homemade eats (my cooking is not exactly up to par). And then there's the fact that everything I turn in must be sent through the Internet.

Blackboard. MasteringChemistry. School email. Forums. Scanned PDFs of textbooks. Now, instead of filling out paperwork and writing down answers on a paper test or circling A, B, or C on a Scan-Tron sheet, I simply write emails and type A, B, or C and press "Submit" buttons all day long. It seems much more simple and it saves A LOT of trees, but I believe my eyes are becoming...a little, well, frazzled.

Now, you can't blame my poor retinas after looking at images of molecules and memorizing the different ways of plugging answers (it's 3*10, not 3X10! and cm^3 instead of cm3) into the online assignment system all day. At times my eyes even seem to skip certain key words entirely. I put the charge instead of the ION like it told me to...am I going blind? Are my eyes, like, not functioning anymore? Are they finally beginning to dry up from the radiation that glares at me from the computer screen?

For some reason, I just can't get used to doing everything online. To me, nothing assures that the teacher has gotten my paper unless I give it to her by hand, and a written test will always allow me to cross things out, make notes in the margins, and put in the correct answer that will be checked off as correct regardless of the way it is written. And, of course, reading a text online will never be as satisfying as being able to leaf through the actual book, smell its pages the first time you open it, and highlight notes with your pen.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you also miss the good ol' times of printing press, or are you embracing the digital era with open arms? Do you think digital media and software is helping or hindering or society?

~TRA

Screens Got My Eyes Frazzled

Tweet