Thursday, October 8, 2009

Short story just because I am bored

Leo and Scarlett was the perfect couple everyone knew. They meet in high school. They spend most of their lunch time together, sharing lunch and laughing with friends. Their senior year flew by with their love for each other growing stronger. Leo knew the only girl he wanted to ask to the prom was Scarlett. They went shopping together, had matching attires. Leo gave Scarlett the most beautiful corsage. Although they didn’t win prom King and Queen, they knew their love will not fade.

They planned to spend the summer together at least for the time Scarlett was in town. For a month Scarlett went traveling by herself. However the time apart did not break them.

First day of university, they were both very excited. Although Scarlett was studying in a different city, Leo knew the distance was not going to stop him from visiting her. Leo visited her whenever he has the time. Scarlett visited him whenever he was sick. She cleaned his room and folded clothes. They can live together with harmony. Sure, there was bickering, but they work it out.

On Valentine’s Day, Leo took Scarlett skating. She was not exactly the best skater in town, but it gave her an excuse to cling onto Leo’s arm. Scarlett gave Leo a gift, which he held onto for the whole day. After lunch, Leo told Scarlett that he was tired and needed some rest. So Scarlett thought that the day was good enough for her and suggested that they part their ways. However, Leo insisted that they stay. He just needed to have a nap for a few minutes because he did not get enough sleep last night. She took him to a bookstore and she let him lie on her lab while she reads. Two hours he slept and Scarlett started to become impatient. She started to get upset that Leo would fell asleep on their date.

Leo thought Scarlett was being inconsiderate of his physical needs. So he got mad and gave the gift that Scarlett has given him back. As soon as the gift has landed on Scarlett’s hand, anger swoops in and Scarlett knew she had to get off the street car to cool off. As soon as Scarlett left the situation, Leo’s anger swoops in, “How could she just leave?” thought Leo. He got off the street car with Scarlett and followed her closely. Scarlett was already a block down the street. She noticed him and yelled at him. Leo started to yell back. The argument got so heated up that Scarlett threw the gift to the right side of Leo without really thinking. Leo witnessed that and took a few steps back and said, “I am done with you, I can’t take this.” Leo started to walk away.

Scarlett evaluated the situation in her head for a few minutes and thought this whole thing was not worth it and it really was not necessary and that she should just apologize. Scarlett chased after Leo and got onto the street car with him. Scarlett apologized the whole way home for 45 minutes, even missed her stop. Leo was so angry that he couldn’t listen to her.

Leo waited for his bus in silent while Scarlett continued to apologize. At this point hot tears were already streaming down Scarlett’s cheeks. Leo jump onto his bus and Scarlett yelled, “Are you serious?” outside with the bus door in between them. Leo replied with a nod.

Heartbroken, Scarlett walked home by herself, crying like a mess. It was the longest 15 minutes walk she had ever walked…

If anyone is interested in the story, let me know. I will continue to write it.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Good Idea to Use Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an online free encyclopedia available in different languages (“Wikipedia: about.”). Most of the content is written by volunteers who have online access. Wikipedia have always had a negative review in the academic field. Most teachers and professors have forbidden the use of Wikipedia. They forbidden the usage of Wikipedia because Wikipedia information can be written or edit by anyone. However, Wikipedia is still a great source to use because of its easy accessibility, quick and simple search engine, RSS feed (Agarwal, et al.), quick way to get topic related links and able to download it and access it without internet access.

Easy accessibility means that one can access Wikipedia as long as a computer and internet is available. Most people have internet access on their mobile phone. Wikipedia becomes an essential tool for one to find nearby building names, quick information about a company one is going to have an interview with or definition for an academic term one does not understand. With a mobile phone one can find information quick and on the spot. Wikipedia also put definitions in simple English, which is really easy to understand. Not only is Wikipedia easy to access, its search engine is quick and simple.

Wikipedia have an easy to use and simple search engine bar available. One can type in literally anything and an entry will come up with most of the information one need. If the entry one types in is incorrect or Wikipedia does not have it, then a list of similar topics will show up. Sometimes by clicking on similar topics, one can find essential information. Not only does Wikipedia have quick search, if one want to keep on top of Wikipedia new posts, one could.

The RSS feed is a web-browser tool that is available to help one get the latest updates on certain websites. Instead of going to the website, the RSS feed brings the updates to a little corner of the web-browser and show all the new updates of the website one selected. If one want to know about new events happening in the world and just want quick information on certain changes or is just such a fan of Wikipedia, one can subscribe the RSS feed and have constant connection to Wikipedia (Agarwal, et al.).

When viewing a Wikipedia entry, the texts are mostly in black. However, certain words are in blue and if one clicks on the word one can get an entry (further explanation) on the specific word. At the bottom of each entry, there are external links or sources and one can click on them to find out more about the topic or simply reference the links posted instead of Wikipedia, since the information from a more reliable online source looks better on academic paper.

If one does not have internet access or is going somewhere without it, Wikipedia did not forget about you. Wikipedia is now available for download. Although it requires a lot of memory space, it can still be useful. For example traveling to another country might require quick information on certain attractions and Wikipedia can be one’s guide.

Overall, Wikipedia is a quick, simple, easy guide to any questions one might have. Of course, never to cite Wikipedia for an academic paper, but it does not mean one cannot use it. It is smart to start with Wikipedia on a topic one has absolutely no idea about and use external links or key words to do further research.

Reference

"Wikipedia: About." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 27 Sept. 2009.Web. 7 Oct 2009.

Agarwal, Amit. “Wikipedia Tips and Tricks: How to use Wikipedia more effectively” Digital Inspiration.19 May 2008. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

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