Virtual pet

adopt your own virtual pet!

I chose this application because of its simplicity, i found that it is exceptionally easy to use as there Is not a lot to it. I have heard the children in the school I am currently working In, talking about It and how they have got so many different virtual pets.
 I don't think it has any particular relevance for helping children in school or in learning anything but it is quite fun to use as when you click on the animal it does a few different actions, such as wake up, get out of the basket or off the tree its on and more.
The website also gives you easy ways to post your cyber pet onto social networking sites and blogs, without having to use the HTML buttons. The website it is on also allows you to upload your drawings and other links to games.
  As well as all of this it has a small news button, which acts as a small blog for the website, it informs the people that use the website to what is going on in terms of new animals being able to be made and so on..

I advise any young person to try out this web 2.0 application.

History Of mobile phones

Mobile phones are a staple in everyones day to day life. The first mobile phone was created in 1973 by motorola, this allowed people to make calls from certain places away from the home.
    The invention revolutionised the way in which individuals communicated with one another. In 1977 the first automated cellular network was created in Japan, this was created in order for people to be able to call others without being near a certain point or a base block.
 Today, there is a range of mobile phones available, on an even wider range of networks and with a range of different prices you can pay dependant on how long you want to talk to people or how many texts you want. With the phones of today, you can surf the web, make calls, send texts, take photos, edit photos and so much more, the phones of now are more like very small computer systems.
   The newest phones allow people to not even have to meet up to see others.. the new skype app and facetime allows you to be antisocial in a social environment which is perfect for todays generation.. am I wrong?

Blog Review

For my blog review of a technology related blog, I chose to use' A new approach', the reasoning behind me choosing this blog was that I find it very interesting hearing another individuals opinions on technology, as I am an avid reader and listener to blogs and podcasts on technology.
I really enjoyed reading through the posts in which were made on the 'A new approach blog' they were very fun and detailed which made me want to keep reading. Another reason behind me wanting to do the review on this blog is that it has shown me technology and apps that i didnt know about before hand, which is ideal as there is web 2.0 applications on there in which i have gone on to use for my blog. As well as this the blog has been around for quite a while, whilst also being updated very frequently, its also about things that are useful for me within in uni.
The blog is also very relevant to the assignment i'm currently doing in university, it has helped in giving me ideas for other posts.
 I would reccomend this blog to anyone who is interested in technology, especially web 2.0 applications.


http://mandy-newapproach.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-01-08T10:12:00Z&max-results=7

A day in the life of Gordon

I chose to do a day in the life of Gordon as my photostory, I chose this as he seems like an interesting character and as a cat he always finds new ways to occupy his time.. this time I followed him around, he seemed to have a very average day.. 

The New Era of Positive Psychology..

I chose to do this TEDTALKS as the subject in which Martin Seligman is talking about interests me very much. I believe in everything in which was spoken about within the video. I believe that positive thinking and fulfilling dreams and aspirations within reason, I also believe in giving back to people who have given to you, and helping out individuals that are in need.
I felt inspired by this video, as it promotes positive thinking and being happy through pushing yourself to do different things, that you want to do. I also think that by talking about the science behind it and the different parts of happyness, it can lead to people being able to shake off a miserable mood, and 'get back to zero' if suffering from depression.
The things in which Martin Seligman says are simple things in which if done can lead to a possibly happier life. Although he doesn't quite go into the scientific side of things, which he does brush upon, and also he doesn't quite explain the term flowing, through what he is saying it seems that he has done his research and is just giving us a small insight to the work that he does.

Voki

I chose to use the 'Voki' Web 2.0 application, I found that it is very useful within education. Within a schooling environment, sometimes it can be difficult to keep the minds of the children occupied with 'useful things', the 'useful things' I am talking about is the work and knowledge in which we throw at them in countless different ways through speech, pictures and videos.
 An app like this can be useful within a primary school environment as it is very interactive.. as its a cartoon character speaking it may interest the children more than listening to a teacher rumbling on about the same old stuff. Apps like these are very interesting to use, and are also very easy to use.. anyone can use this app, from the teachers to the children which in itself makes it very useful as they both understand the workings behind it as their watching the clips or as their using it.

Instagram.. The Pro's and Con's

Instagram is a worldwide app, It Is used for sharing photos and short videos to followers all around the world. Instagram currently has over 100 million active users, it has in itself turned itself into a social networking website rather than just a photo sharing application. there are lots of pro's and con's to using 'IG'. 

One of the pro's is that you can share photos with friends and family wherever they are around the world, it gives you the opportunity to tag them in the photos also. whilst this is a benefit, there is also the opportunity for people that you don't know to view your photos, this can obviously cause a security concern.

Another pro to instagram is that you can see photos that celebrities are putting on, this is a massive benefit if you are a big fan of someone!! On the downside, you will see a lot of abusive comments towards your 'HERO'. 

The new messaging option that it gives you can also pose as a security threat, especially to the younger audience as anyone in the world can send you a private message as well as a private photos, this is not ideal. 

All in all, if used in the right manner, and with a careful mind instagram can be a useful tool for showing your friends and family cool photos and videos.

Masochism.. Nature or Nurture?

Masochism… Nature or Nurture ‘The enjoyment of an activity that appears to be painful or tedious’ - Oxford Dictionary I was sat here struggling what to write about for this blog, I was tempted to give up and start again tomorrow when a heavily tattooed and pierced young lady walked past and gave me this idea. As she walked past I thought to myself, to look in that way whether people like it or not is very committed, this in terms of the time spent designing, in terms of the money spent and most of all in terms of the pain that she must’ve gone through in order to have the colourful ink underneath her skin… surely she can’t enjoy the pain of the needle ripping through the skin? But there is more to it than that. The first thing I thought, ‘beauty is pain’ so this young girl mixes pain and pleasure together. This works by feeling satisfied in the end product, she is willing to sit through hours of the pain in which she is learning to enjoy as she knows that come the end of it she is going to be happy with the end product, the temporary pain is easy enough to put up with for her for the permanent ink that is left under her skin. So thus far into my blog I am realising that nurture is the key to masochism. Secondly, the pain isn’t actually what these people enjoy... they get made out to be these almost psychotic humans where in theory it’s the endorphins that are released that they are really enjoying. The thought that it may be the pain killing endorphins that people are enjoying really make it a confusing concept, but it’s very much like the feeling people get off doing different drugs. The small amount of pain that they receive in order to have this feeling of almost numbness which in itself makes the individual feels safe. It has the same effects as morphine, minus the mind numbing part which makes you look and end up feeling a little silly. So again I feel that even this must be nurture because you must learn to feel the pain before getting your reward, punishment and reward? So to conclude this, I’ve come to the conclusion that no one is born a masochist, you must go through the pain a number of times before you realise that you like the effect of the endorphins that come into play seconds after.

Materialistic World

Spending social time playing games 

In 2014, I can definatly say already that I can see, and hear of people purely living for material things rather than for relationships with people. Children of the last 10 years are being brought up to love objects and material rather than investing time in people with friendships and what not.
I see and hear when Im in school, of children that prefer to spend time on their ipads, xbox's and ps3's, children dont want to spend time outdoors anymore playing with their friends. I feel this is the source for the change in the attitude for the younger generation of recent years, they lack in confidence and more than that they lack in people skills.. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of children that are very friendly and are a joy to have a conversation with, but the majority struggle.
I find that the love for material is killing face to face relationships, most people spend their socialising time, either on facebook so they arent even in the presence of other people or when they are with people they are on facebook watching what other people are doing..
 Life is about creating relationships with people and socialising, whereas young people today feel its about spending as much money on designer gadgets and wasting time creating false fantasies through gaming and taking in ideologies in which have been created by other people.