Blog #9: Blue Store or Redbox

So last year when I lived down the street from Block Buster it was really nice to use the total access because the store was so close. Then, the Block Buster closed and I cancelled my membership and switched to Netflix. I love Netflix but when they increased their prices to receive DVD's by mail I changed to the membership that just had on-line streaming. I personally love the convenience of Netflix. The problem I have with it is that there are never any new movies offered online. In turn I will use the Redbox. I do feel that the Redbox can get expensive especially if you forget to return your movie right away. I have paid 10 dollars for a movie I rented because I just kept forgetting to return the movie. I think that the Redbox is great because they send you codes for free movie rentals and if you use those then you can rent just the right number of DVD's that you are actually going to watch. So, to answer the question I use both Redbox and Netflix. I use Redbox when I want to rent a new movie or just have the want to rent a movie in general. And I watch Netflix on a daily basis along with Hulu because they have so much to offer. I do have to say with Netflix and Hulu I have actually gotten rid of my cable and am very happy about the decision and the reduced amount of money coming out of my pocket every month. 

Sincerely,

Jade Parker

Post #8: Old Time Radio Shows

Okay I have to say that I think the comedy shows are actually kind of funny. I do have to say that there was a commercial in the show I watched and I was really surprised they had TUMS at this time. It was kind of a joke in itself. But I was also surprised that it listed ingredient that weren't in TUMS such as baking soda. I think there were several funny pieces in this show. I would have been able to listen to the comedies. I have a hard time listening to books on tape so I would have a hard time listening to any other stories. A lot of the jokes I have actually heard or seen on shows today or in jokes. One of them was about the dad calling and the daughter told him he needed to hang up to free the phone line. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this on a show I am watching. I think it is over beaten now but it would have been pretty fun back then. I do think that this would have been a great way to pass the time back then but I would rather watch television. If I had no other choice of what to do I could listen to these shows. It does take a minute though to get used to their voices and how their radio show sounds.
Sincerely,
Jade Parker

Blog #7: Napster vs iTunes

I will have to say that I never will use Napster because I always use Pandora. I do have to say that Napster offers a better streaming radio then iTunes Genius program. I actually had an iphone for the longest time and I finally figured out that they aren't all that great. Any problems you have has to be taken care of by Apple you can't go to any store. That is a major disadvantage with iTunes and apple in general. I also feel that iTunes offers a really high price for all the songs that are on their website. I don't find this fair to the consumer when they could actually get the CD cheaper in stores. I do have an iPod so I have to use iTunes but I always download music from my CD's because it is cheaper that way and I guess it is just something personal with me that I don't like the way Apple runs things. If I had to choose between Napster and iTunes I would choose Napster. But I will always use Pandora. 

Sincerely,

Jade Parker

Blog 6: The End of Papers?

I feel like we are at a time where we may lose papers but I don't think they will ever be completely gone. At least not for a very long time. I say this because the older generations will always want a newspaper. The business people always use the paper to check the latest news and drink their coffee right? I think that e-readers with subscriptions to newspapers would be a hit. But a lot of the news in the paper can be found free on the internet. I feel that the newspaper won't ever completely disappear but their business will start to decline gradually over time. Now I couldn't tell you if it will be possible for the newspaper companies to stay in business. I think a lot of people like the idea of a newspaper but  it would be better online. It would be easier to obtain and check the information if it were offered online. I don't really know what the future of the newspaper is but I don't buy the paper and I don't watch the news which is sad but it is hard to watch pure sadness all the time. I think it is important to have the option of a paper but I don't think that it is vital.

Blog Five: Let's Ban Books

I just have to say I don't think banning books is a horrible idea but it has to be for the right reasons. If there was a book that teaches someone how to murder someone else and that was its purpose I think it should be banned. I think that for example with James and the Giant Peach there is no need to ban it because it says the word "ass" I think this is going a little too far. You cannot tell me that you think that their parents haven't said worse at home. At the point a child is reading this book in all reality they have probably said this word themselves. I think it is a little ridiculous how much we are trying to shelter our children. These books have been around for ages and ages and they were around when my grandparents were little. I think that we need to be looking more at video game violence for children and home violence or even television violence before we look at books. I think that people have way too much time on their hands to shelter children this much. I guess as a mother I still don't understand the purpose of this. I remember that in 8th grade my teacher had her advanced literature class read "The Grapes of Wrath" I thought the book was graphic but to this day I haven't forgot the horrible things that people went through during the Great Depression. I think that is a book every child should read and understand how bad it truly was and that we should do whatever we can not to go back. Or we should take protective measures that way if we do end up in another depression we know how to handle it and we can be prepared. 

I really loved the book but I can understand how a still born child and a woman breastfeeding a grown man back to health could be a lot for an adult to want a child to read. I think there is more grounds to ban this book then there is to ban The Lorax. I think it is time for people to focus on other areas to censor then the books our children read because it is sad the number of children who neglect reading and focus on video games instead. If a parent wants to censor a child from reading a book that should be their choice but don't prevent all students from learning history of storytelling. 

Fourth blog: Poor Richard

I enjoyed reading a few quotes from “Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard’s Almanac” by Benjamin Franklin. The book was published when he was 26 in 1732 and this book was compiled from other books that pulled together familiar phrases that he once said. I find it funny though that there are different categories like eating and drinking. I think that would take a lot of work to come up with quotes for silly things like drinking.

I am a person that loves quotations and am always awestruck when I find a good one. I really like the quote, “The sleeping Fox catches no poultry. (Benjamin Franklin)” To me this is like what my parents always said to me growing up; when they would say, “The early bird always catches the worm.” I was always the early bird and it seemed as though my day would end faster than it began because I was so tired. I do feel though that when you have more daylight you will always get more done. When I sleep till noon I only have a couple of hours until sunset and I will just want to sleep after dark. So, I always realize that when I sleep in or lay in bed until late at night that I won’t get half as much done than someone else who woke up early and got a head start. I really love little quotes so I will have to buy this book.

The place I read most of my quotes was on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Richards-Almanack-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486408914