JMS Technology Lab

Last night I went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.  I have to say I had a fantastic time with my two sons, Christian and Evan.  Since it was their first time to any sort of theme park Halloween festival, I was especially thrilled. Also, I used to work at the first amusement park to ever host such a Halloween event, Knotts Berry Farm, when I was a teenager so I was excited to see a new perspective of how a different amusement park did things.

I know that many students from our school usually attend this event, so I figured I would use my experience to help you decide on what you should visit, (or not visit if you're a scaredy cat), if you go to Halloween Horror Nights.

As far as the decor of the theme park, most of the theme park pretty much looked like it normally does with only a few scare zones that were made to look scary or fit a particular theme.  The Asylum in Wonderland was decorated as well as the School House, and Fractured Tales.  The decor was minimal at best, but my favorite was the School House Area.  The canopy of trees surrounded by a pumpkin patch really made for a creepy setting to walk through.  This was a scare zone and the people dressed as children in bloody trick or treat costumes didn't really scare me but I heard people screaming as I went through there so I guess I might just be jaded in my old age and didn't take a fright to it.

I've listed the haunted houses in order of scariness so that you might have an idea as to where you want to start out with first if you should go.  I've also rated them with a 5-star system with 5 stars being very scary and 1 star being tame.  I did not visit the Dead Exposure haunted house, my youngest son doesn't like zombies so we avoided that one, nor the Doomsday haunted house, (we ran out of time and this one seemed the least interesting to us.)  Keep in mind, this is only my opinion and yours may differ when you go and see for yourself.

The Hallow- As far as I'm concerned, this was probaby the scariest house this year.  The theme of this house was Sleepy Hallow and the headless horseman, but slightly different than what is customary.  The decorations inside the haunted house were really cool and elaborate and the scare-factor was pretty high with tons of pop outs, many that were totally unexpected.  I will give away this tiny part, wading through a forest of dangling severed heads was super creepy and made it very difficult to see if anyone was going to pop out and grab you from the sides.  I was totally freaked out by this.  Awesome!

Scary Tales - Once Upon a Nightmare - As far as creativity was concerned this house took the prize.  The haunted house's theme was fairy tales in a twisted version.  There were lots of good pop-outs on this house.  My favorite area was one where there were several mirrors on both sides.  I won't give away too much but watch out when you go through there.  I enjoyed the Wizard of Oz area, walking through the corn field.  Very creepy!  Don't forget to stop and say hi to Goldilocks and the three bears on your way out!

Body Collectors - Collections of the Past - This house was themed after the movie, Sweeny Todd.  I don't have to tell you what to expect in there and why they call it Body Collectors.  This was a really good house, but the only reason I gave it 4 stars was because the scary guys in the house pretty much all looked the same so I started to lose my fear of them the further I went through the house.  Lots of good gorey stuff to look at in here!

Reflections of Fear- This haunted house was the main theme of the event and probably had the longest line.  We waited 30 min. in this line, which was actually pretty short but had gone up to 75 min. toward the end of the night.  Expect longer lines the closer to Halloween you go.  I only gave this house three stars because for the wait it was relatively short.  Also, even though Bloody Mary was scary, there were many dead areas on the path where nothing happens.  There were also several dark areas where you really couldn't tell if anything happened or not.  The theme of this house was a hospital/psycho-ward kind of setting.  Mary is supposedly a doctor gone evil.  I think another part of the reason I didn't find this house as scary is that they have a woman at the beginning who is playing Dr. Mary and she is normal and not scary, but every time you encounter her throughout the path she gets scarier and scarier.  Don't get me wrong, this house was scary but the setting seemed somewhat uninspired as well as the other factors that I mentioned above.

Interstellar Terror - The theme of this haunted house was of a spacecraft in which the people are possessed or gone mad, I couldn't quite figure it out.  It was reminiscent to the Doom video game, if you're into video games, or the movie Event Horizon.  I felt like this house was kind of lame in that all of the people in it looked just like people.  Not a whole lot of costumes in here.  Just guys with grease paint make up and fake blood.  Not scary at all to me.

Creatures! - This house was actually pretty funny.  The theme was something like a country town that had been attacked or invaded by creatures.  I almost gave this house 1 star because I kept asking myself, "Where are the creatures?!!!"  One thing that there was plenty of in this house were grease painted bloody hillbillies!  While the idea of crazy hillbillies is scary, these were not.  They were funny especially when you are greeted at the entrance by some big biker looking dude yelling at you.  In defense of this house I did see one big cool looking creature in there and my son and I had to stop and admire it.  Cool! we said simultaneously.  Other than that this house was not very scary.

This concludes my review of the haunted houses.  I hope it helps you if you intend to go to the event.  If you get tired of the houses, the rides that they have open are pretty fun.  I loved The Revenge of the Mummy and The Simpsons ride.  The Men in Black ride was fun, but slow and alot of spinning.  Avoid Disaster.  It's a disaster of a ride, unless you want to experience what a fake earthquake looks like.  If you've never been on it give it try, but one time is usually enough.  If you like shows, The Bill and Teds Excellent Halloween Adventure was really fun, but I warn you there's offensive language.  They didn't drop the F-Bomb, but they did imply it several times and gave the finger as well, plus there was quite a bit of sexual humor.  Not for little kids.

It's that time of year again.  My students have just finished Chapter 2 in our textbook that deals with the creation of technology.  We have just started watching the movie Cast Away in which Tom Hanks' character is stranded on a deserted island and he is forced to survive by creating his own technology.  Click on the link below to see pictures and read about what we did in class.

Click here if you would like to see past Cast Aways or click on the tab "Mr. G's Cast Aways" above.

My summer started out pretty good. I took my son Christian to a concert to see my favorite band, "The Cure." We went to the St. Pete's Times Forum to see them and I had the best time of my life. The Cure was playing all of their old songs because their philosophy was that people go to see them play the songs they know and not the new ones from a new album. In fact their new album is not due to come out until the 13th of Sept. I snuck in my camera and took some pictures and video that I've posted here.

One of the highlights of my summer was going to California to visit my family. My brother took us to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Disney's California Adventure, and the most exciting place of all was Six Flags Magic Mountain, where I rode the scariest ride of my life, the X2!

People riding the X2 are asked if you are you a Type A person, or a Type X? Well, I can now claim that I am a Type X for X-treme! This rollercoaster makes Sheikra look like a kiddy ride. The car has swiveling seats that rotate forwards and backwards while you're riding and you spend much of your time wondering which way is up as you go through loops, dips, and turns. To finish out the ride you're toasted with a nice warm blast of fire. After riding that ride I don't think I'm afraid of anything anymore! Next end of the year field trip, look out, because I'm going to be dragging people on the rollercoasters with me! Check out the video below to see if you could handle X2.

Welcome to the web site for the Introduction to Applied Technology class.

This year promises to be a good year and I look forward to having you in my class.  The following is a brief description of some of the things that will be covered  and some of the new things you can expect if you are a returning student.

The seventh and eighth grade classes consist of learning about the meaning of technology, basic computer skills such as keyboarding and how to perform functions on a computer.  Among some of the programs that students will be learning are Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe/Macromedia Fireworks and Adobe/Macromedia Dreamweaver.

This year, for my returning students, there is now an Applied Technology II class.  This class is for students who have had my class in the seventh grade and are returning to my class in the eighth grade.  These students will be learning some advanced skills on the computer and more difficult computer applications.  In this class students will be learning basic, intermediate and a little bit of advanced HTML.  Students will also be taught more advanced skills on Adobe/Macromedia Fireworks and Dreamweaver.  Some of the new things that we will be touching on in this class will include video editing and television production as well as some basic graphic design.

Supplies

• Paper
• Pencil
• 3 Prong Folder
• Flash Drive (Jump Drive, Thumb Drive, Travel Drive).  The prices of thumb drives have been decreasing significantly over the years.  Currently, Wal-Mart is having a back to school sale on Sandisk Cruzers for 2GB for $12.88 and a 4GB for $19.88.  These are excellent prices for the large capacity.  Staples also carries a PNY 2GB flash drive for $9.99.  There are other smaller capacity drives that can be found at different stores for cheaper but they are becoming harder to find.

Your child may require a thumb drive in other classes where they will be using computers as well.  If this is the case, you don't have to purchase a separate drive for this class.  One flash drive is enough to hold the data for all classes.

 

I'm very pleased to announce that students are finishing up their web sites.  I have posted links to their sites based on grade level and period.  Click on the links and enjoy their sites.  Their web sites are hosted at Geocities.com which only allows minimum traffic.  If you click on a link and it says it's unavailable, try again later when the site isn't blocked.  More sites will be added as students complete their work.

Eighth Grade

1st Period

http://www.geocities.com/daniellenmotes

http://www.geocities.com/alexnicole2012/

http://www.geocities.com/jmacgibbon/

http://www.geocities.com/hena_loves_ya

http://www.geocities.com/siouxsie_2012

http://www.geocities.com/ka_davis_14

http://www.geocities.com/mimiiix3

http://www.geocities.com/x3tmp

http://www.geocities.com/youngsprybuck

http://www.geocities.com/devannicole_93

http://www.geocities.com/baseballdude2924

3rd Period

http://www.geocities.com/sevearance

http://www.geocities.com/montae_young/

http://www.geocities.com/fieldsjohnesha

http://www.geocities.com/cassie_lynnn

http://www.geocities.com/bobmarley853

http://www.geocities.com/phatbigpick20

http://www.geocities.com/patsarethebest

http://www.geocities.com/jarheadbee2

http://www.geocities.com/patsarethebest

http://www.geocities.com/xxbentley27xx

http://www.geocities.com/land0192

http://www.geocities.com/cole06b

http://www.geocities.com/trevtrevs_gator_zone

http://www.geocities.com/technology_history

4th Period

http://www.geocities.com/sxdrgsnrr

7th Grade

2nd Period

http://www.geocities.com/summers38

http://www.geocities.com/esquirrel19

http://www.geocities.com/wisenick89

5th Period

http://www.geocities.com/holly_jolly01

http://www.geocities.com/kalyn147

http://www.geocities.com/co_co_flanders

http://www.geocities.com/kirklandtrey17

http://www.geocities.com/jennilynn1220

http://www.geocities.com/tayla0527

http://www.geocities.com/harper_14

http://www.geocities.com/softball_gurl2438

http://www.geocities.com/vherrera51

http://www.geocities.com/wizzywonder3

http://www.geocities.com/southerngirl8463

6th Period

http://www.geocities.com/heavyduty_monster

http://www.geocities.com/ty_lavelle/

http://www.geocities.com/fashion_08_911

http://www.geocities.com/kmarie_109

http://www.geocities.com/fontae_32177

http://www.geocities.com/halimorganr

All classes are currently working on creating their web sites.  The link for the web design tutorial is located on the menu bar above or you can click here to enter the web design course.  All students are expected to have a total of five pages (See Below)

1. Home Page - The home page should be saved as the file name index and is the first page that a person arrives to when they type in your URL.  Parts needed for the home page, at least one picture representing what your web site is about, a banner, and navigation buttons.
2. About Me Page - A page about the creator of the web site.  Avoid giving out personal information but give a description of yourself and your interests.  Photograph of yourself is optional.
3. Topic Page - This page is reserved for the topic of your web site.  The choice is yours.  This is your opportunity to showcase any hobbies,  activities, or interests that you do or have.  Photos are important and descriptions of your topic.
4. Energy Research Page - Tech I students only.  On this page you will describe the topic of your PowerPoint and what you learned about the research you conducted.
5. Career Page - Tech II students only.  On this page you will describe a career, or careers, that you are interested in and you would possibly go into when you grow up.  Tell about why you are interested in it and what steps you are taking to obtain your goal.
6. Links Page - The links page is similar to a works cited page where you provide a hyperlink to any web sites that you borrowed information from, (pictures, music, info, etc.)

Hello students,

Today we are going to be learning graphic design for the web.  We will be creating and customizing banners that can be useful for web pages or your personal blogs such as facebook, or myspace.

Click on the link below to get started.  I haven't had a chance to establish a permanent link on the site.

http://www.jmseagles.com/web_design/graphic_design.html

(Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image)

I went to Wal-Mart this weekend in search of yard stuff like pesticide for my lawn, weed killer, etc.  Yeah, I was doing yard work.  **groan** (I hate doing yard work.)  Anyway, on my way to the garden center I passed by the pet department.  I saw the usual display of plastic containers with the normal array of Betta fish.  I was shocked to see some containers that appeared to be filled with dirt.  My immediate reaction was that some idiot had poured dirt into several of the betta containers thus killing the poor fish inside, but as I got closer, I noticed that there were small creatures inside that were moving about.  This, of course, piqued my interest.  I stopped to look and much to my surprise I discovered that Wal-Mart was now selling Firebelly toads!

I quickly called my wife and told her about them.  She was as excited as I was and asked me to buy her four of them for the library.  So I did.

This was an impulse buy, but I have experience in raising herps (reptiles and amphibians) so I wasn't too concerned with not knowing about the husbandry of the animal.  I quickly researched them on the Web as soon as I was home.  Things that I have learned is that they are from China and various parts of Asia, and that they are a hardy species and easily kept as pets.  For those of you that don't know, they are called firebelly toads because of the coloration of their bellies.  They have red to orange bellies that serves as a warning to predators.  This was something that I was not aware of and was very glad I looked up information online about them.  What I found out was that, when stressed, firebelly toads excrete a toxin from their skin very much like the poison dart frogs of South America.  I knew that bright coloration, as in the poison dart frogs, generally means "beware" in nature.  Poison dart frogs come in various bright colors which warns predators to stay away.  The firebelly toad is no different.  It's toxins have been known to kill other animals that would want to eat them.  I was relieved to find out that their poison is not deadly to humans, but it can be harmful.  Symptoms of the toxin include rashes and inflamation of the skin in the areas affected.  As a result, handling of the toads should be avoided as much as possible, but if you should have to handle them, you should wash your hands immediately afterward.  The truth of the matter is that you should be in the practice of washing your hands after handling any animal especially if you are handling herps.

I do have some concerns over Wal-Mart selling these frogs in the exact same manner that they sell Betta fish.  First of all, I am concerned that the general population doesn't know about taking care of these toads nor the hazards that they pose to people and pets.  I habitually look up information on any pet that I buy just to see if there is anything out there that I don't already know about.  I'm not so sure that the majority of the population would do that when taking one of these little guys home.  There was nothing on the container that warned about the possible toxicity of the toads.  I think that it's very irresponsible of Wal-Mart that they would be selling these toads without information especially when many of these little toads are going to be purchased for children as pets.

My other concern is for the well-being of the toads that Wal-Mart sells.  Firebelly toads eat small insects, such as crickets, mealworms, and waxworms.  I did not see that they had anything for the toads to eat.  I know they feed the bettas because they have the fish food readily available, but Wal-Mart doesn't carry live food for small toads.  Are they hoping that people will buy them before they have to feed them?  What's going to happen if some of them sit on the shelf in their little containers stewing in their own waste for a long period of time?  I'm sure Wal-Mart is not concerned if they lose a few here and there.  They sell for $5.95 each, so I'm sure they only pay a fraction of the price for them.  What's a few losses to Wal-Mart?

Maybe I'll send an email to the manager of Wal-Mart to see if they can address some of those issues.  At least I'm happy that I could save four of them.  I know Mrs. G and her library assistants will take good care of them and the students that visit the library can enjoy and learn from them as well.

Congratulations to the 2007-2008 JTV crew.

Anchors:

• Kayla Black
• Emily Dwyer
• Andrea Ecker
• Jesseca Gornto
• Devan Hodge
• Alexandria Johnson
• Erin Kennedy
• Allison Lewis
• Danielle Motes
• Kristen Stone-Erdman

Camera / Technicians

• Austin Edwards
• Chase Parker
• Katy Robinson
• Cecelia Wilson

Thanks to all of you who tried out.