Are children smarter because of the internet-AJ

• As the world of technology develops, so does the human brain. Technology has sincerely developed from black and white TV's to 3D animation movies in high definition. As humans invent more new technologies we have benefited from them by not only enjoying them, but we have learned. This can be an opposite issue for some new technologies and the leading technology in some cases is known as the internet. Many people even in our present day have argued about the internet being more for socializing or for research and school studies that can be benefited from.
• Many guardians or parents from their children's and their own point view have stated that the internet has been abused by being used for more social purposes. This is true since there are over 24,000 social websites found on the internet and each websites views have been extremely high. The number one leading social website was found to be Facebook worldwide. Every single day about 20 million people check their Facebook pages. These are adults and kids to, so you can easily conclude that these parents have a valid point.
• On the other hand many parents have argued that the internet is a great resource and reliable utility for dependent or factual information and valid research. The internet consists of well over 900 million factual websites on the internet. Another commonly used website would be Wikipedia, but the best is SmartyPedia. These types of websites have given factual and efficient information.
• The internet in social ways is a great opportunity for bullying. This is called cyber bullying where many users can use inappropriate words or conjectures to hurt another person's feelings. This is a form of abusive socialism that is only used on the internet.
• The internet is like the universe that controls may things. Each website is like a microscopic star or planet compared to it. It will only be enjoyable if used properly, so don't abuse the privilege of having it.
  
   

Do You Think Life Exists Or Has Ever Existed Somewhere Besides Earth? - Anita

• We all now understand that Earth is definitely not a flat, two-dimensional plant, along with the fact that our dear home is not the center of the galaxy. Through scientific research and setting aside this pompous assumption, we have been able to discover much more with our advanced technologies and advice from our predecessors about the expanses of our universe through exploration. We test the limits of our galaxies, discover new solar systems with unique planets that could possibly be habitable, and watch as our universe expands and unfolds into more and more empty space. If we can imagine, we are technically isolated in space as the only living creatures to this advancement and development. Maybe if we delve deeper with this specific discovery, we can infer that life did or remains to exist on a location besides Earth. A journalist, Kenneth Chang writes about organisms that had  inhabited Mars one time.
• These organisms that Kenneth Chang discusses were found to inhabit Mars, but may be living now underneath the layers of our Earth. As we also infer, Mars was originally a healthy, habitable planet for these microorganisms with the nutrients and life-nurturing vitamins it provided, such as minerals that could be served as potential food and fuel. We we look at Mars know, we realize how much has changed from the atmosphere all the way to the rocky ground. How could this planet, in particular, be able to support any means of life, even extraordinarily tough microorganisms. While this idea could possibly be controversial, NASA scientists claim at a recent news conference that they discovered this by investigating on their rover over the rocky planet. While many may believe this theory, others believe that the idea of controversy still remains, along with the fact that further proof of discovery must be found.
• While scouring the planet, we have found proof of the existence of these creatures. From their remains to the layout and geography and any remaining part of Mars which did not change from the time period of life inhabiting it. John P. Grotzinger, who is the geology professor for California Institute Of Technology and a vital contribution to the NASA investigation team mainly focusing on this specific mission, has decided to take a different method and way of providing proof to all those who do not believe in the existence of microorganisms. He has decided to view photo, videos, and other images displaying and focusing more about the scenery and the geography. Luckily, he took the best and most evident approach. He claims that he has discovered an oasis-like habit that is extremely benign and potentially supportive of life that it probably produced water healthy enough to just scoop into the hands and drink.
• This one discovery caused a butterfly effect, or a chain link, for another discovery that was bound to occur. Since this explanation of John P. Grotzinger's seemed somewhat reasonable compared to the previous environment of Mars, the astronauts conducting one of the Mars' rovers, Curiosity, continued the experimentation process. First, they dug with their machine one layer into the rock, a dusty, fine mudstone. After being tested in the laboratory they were provided in their vehicle, which was potentially the size of a Mini Cooper, they then sent and reported the results back to Earth. Here, with more tools and technology and people and space, we realized with the evidence of rock remains that Mars was once covered and awash with water! With the large oceans, we can definitely tell that this was the beginning of the microorganism development as they sprang from the water and inhabited the lands of the planet.
• Along with the discovery of the geology and the remains of potential water, scientists have also discovered the existence of materials that we possess here one Earth and use on a daily basis to sustain and support ourselves and other life forms that were also found in small, rare amounts on Mars to sustain the lives of these microorganisms such as sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon. Therefore, the microorganisms were supported not only by their environment, but by the planet itself. While these were advantages, the microorganisms possessed another even greater advantage that resided as a property within the creature itself. It was capable of absorbing the elements, which acted in such as a manner as batteries or fuel, and stored them either for further use, consumption, or energy. While we believe that we may be advanced beings, we should furthermore explore the universe thoroughly.

The outcomes of gaming-AJ

• As the future comes upon us , we have developed the series of entertainment in many different ways. As we reflect on our past to the medieval times(1300-1500) there was absolutely no technology available, so what would they have as entertainment. The upper class people at that time would have been entertained by plays, dances, and most popularly, gladiator matches. As we come upon the 16 and 17 hundreds many had gotten more into the entertainment of sports unlike gladiator matches,some of those sports were like bull riding, soccer, and even hockey. When we enter the 1900's, technology was birthing causing new stages of electronic entertainment, and in the present we have a more developed stage of it.
• Nowadays you may think of watching an eagles game on TV, or enjoying a fun movie. Well, the most popular hit of technology for entertainment is actually gaming. From playing Halo on your Xbox to flappy bird on your Ipad, these are all under the general idea of gaming. Many have been questioning this new creation as a flaw in kids habits and effect their mental and physical growth, while others have stated their point that they believe video gaming is just like a virtual reality where on some video games their are techniques used that can be preformed in real life. Both sides have valid points.
• Many say that cutting down or even banning video games from their household can help their children's growth. This is a very valid fact since grades in the US is about half the average that it was in 2009, so many health physicians have verified this problem as obsession with gaming of any sort. Gaming can damage a persons brain if it is abused and it can also shuts the children out from their fitness.
• In contrast, some parents have said that it can connect their children to reality and their are life skills that can be learnt from it. For example, if your child plays a car racing game a lot and they want to be a NASCAR driver when they grow up they might have success in being a race car driver. Games like military games can also give an experience for a kid if they might want to join their country.
• As our entertainment technology develops many issues have been created. Like the argument in watching television and watching adult rated television programs. As time goes many of these arguments may always stay forever as 2 sided conflicts.
  
   

How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? - Anita

• The three main questions we should ask ourselves before continuing this article are: What have we learned about climate change previously? How concerned are you, specifically, about it? What do you think should be done to address it? To answer the first question, I  have learned that climate change is associated with global warming and greenhouse gas, making it a human-created danger to the environment that was once thriving and healthy and clean. Personally, I am extremely concerned about climate change because not only are we currently not living in the most protected, suitable, healthy environment, but imagine how much our children and future generations will be burdened by our mistakes! And for the final question, for much I will elaborate on in the third and fourth bullets, environmentalists worldwide should collaborate together for a solution, not our politicians.
• While most have acknowledged that climate change is the drastic shift in weather caused to human activity, such as global warming melting our precious icebergs with the last remains of fresh water in Antarctica, to winter, along with the icy tundras of snow that adorn our street, being held back because climate change/global warming is placing our seasons out of wack! But the recent Hurricane Sandy has many people believe that the storm was prodded and created by the effects of global warming near our oceans. While scientists, aren't exactly sure that this assumption is the most accurate and can answer the question of this hurricane's origin, it has now become a major possibility to the reasons leading up to the event. While climate change occurs, along with greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere, and global warming causing the hurricane, it is all just with human activity.
• Finally, our leaders have began to gather together to ponder the reason of climate change and what actions humans must take to both cease and overcome it so that it does not ruin the opportunities our newer generations could miss because of our current irresponsibility with treating our environment respectfully. The world was focused on Doha, Qatar, as famous world leaders, politicians, academics, and even environmentalists gathered to witness and collaborate on a potential solution to climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Well, this event was actually just another attempt at peaceful interaction between the nations after the disaster in the international Rio +20 Conference, where various nations wrestled with one another about challenges and solutions, some losing interest in the entire idea of saving Earth from climate change. Selfish? 
• Alas, the meeting in Doha, Qatar, was not a complete disaster. Here, the "slow-turning wheel of politics" collaborated productively and produced ideas of mitigating  and attempting to the climate changes that occurred. While most, like myself believe that we could produce better ideas if we pushed ourselves past suppressing climate change and permanently fixing the issue by fixing our irresponsible habits of abusing and polluting nature, most witnesses at the convention believed that the agreement that was settled upon was as nail-biting experience as watching the 2016 Presidential Election for America. The fact that the nations were able to finally agree upon some form of solution without much debate or criticism or opposition was probably the most amazing part to witness. Now that we have pushed aside our politics, where is the actual solution to this issue?
• The New York Times magazine is actually now asking students from middle school and older for their opinions on the solution to climate change. If  you possibly can, definitely input your suggestion into their comments box and answer the few questions that they have provided. Remember, maybe your solution or suggestion for a cure for climate change could become the ultimate factor that determines the end of this dilemma in which a child, not the world's best politicians, could solve the issue. Also, students in Brazil, America, and Qatar have created an organization by the name of "Road To Doha," are conducting research on ridding our planet of climate change, and are still somewhat in need of extra help on their quest to a perfect, purified world. They are holding webcasts where your entire classes can participate and hold climate change debates with them. Let's solve climate change!

                                  

The life of an immigrant-AJ

• As the United States was in it's developing stages of success and opportunity many poor economical countries had heard of America striving to excellence. Some countries like Italy, Germany, and Spain had very poor economies meaning that in those countries you would either be known as rich or otherwise poor. This news had spread throughout Asia and the two main countries that came to the Americas were the Chinese and the Russians. This caused many boating and sailing companies to have a larger crowd since many people were looking for better opportunity of work and life in the USA.
• America was very well known for it's diversity, fertile lands for agriculture, and successes in inventions like transportation. At this point the USA was still growing meaning that there was lots of free land causing many compacted countries like China to be more interested. Also, as stated above it was very diverse meaning it had no segregation against any one country or race/religion. As many wanted or wished to come they didn't have transportation meaning that many boating companies had had to many costumers or some civilians just couldn't pay for it.
• Many Transportation companies for boating had eventually denied service to some civilians`who had already paid for their tickets because of the overcrowded boats and transportation vehicles. The people who were lucky enough had to be arranged in orders like lower class and upper class. Since the lower class was always larger they would normally be cramped against railings and walls for sometimes 14 hours!
• Even after that misery the immigrant would reach Ellis Island which was a very important part of our history. As they would enter families, couples, and singles would go through series of tests for their passports and Visa's to check if they were eligible. As the next series of tests came some had been sent back home because of their invalid Visa's. The next series of tests was to scan for any types of diseases like arthritis, Ebola, and lymphoma to make sure that no person will bring in a disease to the country. 
•  Their was a tale of how Chinese Grandpa and his grandson had came to America to meet with the rest of their family. They had passed the passport configuration ad were of to the blood tests. The grandson was able to pass, but the Grandpa was diagnosed with arthritis and wasn't allowed to pass. The Grandson had to go alone into the Americas while the grandpa had been forced back into China.
  

Is School Designed More For Girls Than Boys? - Anita

• We have commonly seen that girls develop critical skills quickly and before boys of their same age develop identical ones. Overall, girls seem to mature quicker, which is actually a large advantage on their part and continued into their higher grades and college life and even professional life. Here, we are mainly discussing how as the school periods become longer, teachers demand more attention from their students to sit still and quiet and understand their academic lessons. While this is easier for the female population to do because they are able to both easily grasp information and are patient, the male population struggles when they are asked for their listening skills. While this is a trait they must develop, if they do not grab on to it soon, the consequence for not paying attention and sitting still is suffering lower grades and others.
• If we compare test score, boys do have the capability of matching or even exceeding the intelligence of girls because they are usually naturally capable of doing so. While this may be an extreme advantage when these tests are considered either for a grade or a placement type notification, girls nowadays have gained the upper hand. You may be imaging that this is unfair and that girls do not deserve this, but certainly the teachers look rather upon behavior than your personal grade to determine your placement more often than never. As a result, girls who have the average mental capacity are being placed in more advanced groups whereas intelligent boys are being held back and remain in their basic, simple skilled classes. A study shows that this inequality begins as early as kindergarten, where all grades only depend on the behavior.
• The study was successful to prove that this dilemma occurs for all boys, across all ages, across all racial groups, and across all schools. Boys seem to struggle to behave properly, but may excel with their academics in these low grades. This is an may not be an unfair advantage for the girls, though. The study had asked about 5,800 students from kindergarten through fifth grade about their experiences, over an extremely broad variety of people, and they received answers that were very identical to one another. While one may argue that this system of grading based on behavior is unfair and biased, this is the type of pressure we will need as adults. In our professional worlds, we must act seriously and put forth the appropriate behavior when attempting and a job through a sincere interview or convince clients.
• The scholars who conducted this study aligned it with the natural personality that a boy possess. They are hyper, and do not have the patience to sit quietly to learn and absorb the information thrown at them. Their attentiveness and attention levels were not as high and satisfactory as the teachers would have liked. They did not have the persistence to try again and accept failure. They did not have the eagerness to sit for a short amount of time or a long amount of time and find the information that they were given any bit useful or appreciative. Lastly, they enjoy companionship, and therefore find it difficult to perform independently, such as on tests and other individualistic curricular activities. In this area, teachers, parents, and even other students are realizing that girls possess the ability that boys lack as "cognitive" and "misalignment."
• Overall, this study proves that boys may lack the appropriate behavioral skill that girls possess and may be the reason that they are being pulled back and held against their possible skills and talents. No previous study, to our knowledge, has provided these exact same results. We have not realized majorly that the difference between the genders is what is causing the drastic difference between both the academic performance and the grades of the students. Actually, by delving deeper, we realize that there might be existing bias in the teachers themselves. The information collected on test scores has proven that boys perform just as exemplary in mathematics, science, and reading as girls do. If the teachers did not purposefully involve behavior as a separate but equally powerful grade, then boys could be matched with girls.

The effects of technology on children-AJ

• The world has had it's improvements and upgrades from all the successes of a main importance, Technology. This has been proven to be almost a necessary need for adults and has had a more severe case with children. Did you know that 90% of children that are able to access technology are or have abused their privilege of having it. This has been a common resulting problem in many parts of the world like Germany, Spain, England, Norway, and most of all, America. The reactions to many games on these electronic devices have been outrageous these past two years and many are trying to prevent it.
• Have you ever been really into a game like Halo or FiFa 17 and you're parent or guardian comes and asks you to shut it of. You would probably either say one more second or I'm almost done as a reply. What if the next second you are in like the world cup finals that you've worked so hard to get to and your parent or guardian comes and shuts it off erasing all you're data. My probable reaction would be a very loud temper tantrum. This would be a most common trouble kids have with technology, and that is addiction. You can tell you have it if you can't pull yourself away from it.
• Many times children abuse their playing time by going overboard when they play or they deny their parents request to stop. There have been creations that have helped solve this like app locks. These are automatic technologies that can e put on children's gaming devices that cause their device to shut down after a certain amount of time depending on what time the parents set.  
• Many addictive, but non influential games like halo or five nights at Freddy's have isolated kids from things like physical sports and have made them preform bad in school. After getting very into these types of games and you do bad in everything else, you find out that those games are the only things to look forward too.
• As you play more and more games especially with lots of competition your emotions are normally always triggered to the top. For Example, two parents in Ohio went out for dinner and left their teenage and 9 year old boys at home. The two kids were competing in flappy bird and the younger one beat the older one. Since, the teenage boy was raged he smashed his Ipad on his brother's head causing sharp glass chunks to spleen
   into his head and before the parents could make it home the kid died.

Mobile Phone Facts - Navo

Samsung S8

• Your mobile phone has more computing power than the computers used for the Apollo 11 moon landing. In 1983, the first mobile phones went on sale in the U.S. at almost $4,000 each. Apple sold 340,000 iPhone's per day in 2012.
• Mobile phones have 18 times more bacteria than toilet handles. In Japan, 90% of mobile phones are waterproof because youngsters use them even in the shower. Scientists have developed a way of charging mobile phones using urine. Apple's iPhone has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. Over 250 million Nokia 1100 devices were sold, making it the bestselling electrical gadget in history.
• Apple's iPhone consumes US$0.25 worth of electricity per year if it's fully charged once a day. 99% of all mobile malware is targeted at Android users. The average person unlocks his or her smartphone 110 times each day. 
• The world's most expensive iPhone 5 was worth US$15 million. It was made of 135 grams of 24-carat gold and the chassis was inlaid with 600 white diamonds. 

iPhone 8

Do Great Leaders Have To Be Outgoing? Extroverts And Introverts - Anita

• This question may be simply limited to your school student government body election, or be broad enough to include our actual United States government election. Do great leaders always have to have the attribute of an outgoing person? Can't they just be an inspirational symbol who possess positive morals and is a great influence on everybody globally? It has been proven that even though one may excel in athletics or intelligence, they could still have negative attitudes and overall not be the perfect role model we desire to follow and seek guidance from to earn success. For example, on the recent Opinion Piece, Bill Clinton, our famous respected president who is an extrovert, was compared to our other famous president, Barack Obama, who is an introvert. After the comparison, we realized and concluded that while extrovert are very social, introverts make leaders too.
• What do you think? Maybe you believe that people who find it easier to interact with their community members and act like apart of them is are outstanding leaders, or people who are quiet but can lead in time of need are the leaders we must follow. Whom can you name — from your own life or from public life — who you think is a great leader? Maybe you support people from your school, your neighborhood, or maybe your own household! What qualities do those people have? Are they shy, or outgoing? Every person possess a different view of how a leader must react to situation and their necessary character traits. Overall, with different opinions, it is difficult agree upon our leaders and who they must be. What qualities do you think you have that might make you a good leader?
• The major split between our national elections is that one major candidate for their party would be an introvert, while the other is probably an extrovert. While many would claim the extrovert would prove a better president because socialization and communication easily with others would be vital in a political and diplomatic field, an introvert could perform the same way, maybe through some more difficulty. Introverts care for others and like other just as much as the average extrovert would. Introverts just tend not to enjoy being surrounded by gigantic crowds of people and rather close friends and family. While people may be different in these ways, we can realize that these attributes may either be of personal preference or genetics. Mr. Obama dislikes very few people, but the way and format he interacts with others is not as rambunctious and back-slapping like the typical politician. 
• During the election that took place more than four years ago, Americans were worried that both of their options and both of their presidential options were both introverts and could become the core leadership that America needed. While we have already addressed that Mr. Obama is an introvert, our other candidate, Mitt Romney, was also an introvert in the same fashion that Mr. Obama was. While Mitt Romney was not exactly as keep-to-himself as Mr. Obama was, he was still extremely reserved to himself. Therefore, whatever the outcome of the election, we could not have another extrovert living in the White House for another desperate four years. While many were concerned that both candidates were almost exactly the same that same personality wise. But with an introvert as our president, we can go to say and question the leadership in the White House and put down misconceptions. 
• As both a part of our culture and a part of ourselves along with the influence history has mostly upon us, we believe that great, outstanding leadership arrives with extroverts and their will to surround themselves with others along with constantly interacting with their communities/getting involved with worldly affairs. While this is still a positive attitude and a positive attribute one must possess to contribute, sometimes introverts may prove a better option to take a job or position because they may be more reserved and keep their information more secretive and matters only themselves and other professionals could deal with. We seem to praise leaders who are more determined to win than to serve, willing to talk over others, and willing to make promises they cannot possibly fulfill. While George W. Bush invites you to share a drink with him, Barack Obama does not always.

                                 

Should Middle School Students Be Drug Tested? - Anita

• Nowadays, Olympic athletes are requested to submit urine samples to their administrative board to conductive medical examination and research as a portion of being admitted and permitted to participate in the amazing world-wide sporting event. Why? By taking samples of these athletes, they can use the medical test results to determine their participants's current medical condition. Now, appearance is not all that determines a person's physical well-being. We must examine how the body operates from the inside and the effects of what we place in our bodies does to us. Again, they mainly take these urine samples to determine if the athlete participating is having drugs. This is important to conduct because we must understand who of our role models is actually practicing a negative habit secretly. This one realization can change us all.
• Currently, due to this habit for professional athletes, schools have taken into consideration that some of their average students can possibly be influencing themselves and others around them to practice the habit of drug consumption. Now, grades as low as middle school are required to have drug testing conducted upon themselves when they decided to join sports teams and other extra-curricular activities. While alumni who have attended such schools and have dropped out and suffered throughout their lives either because some event triggered them or they were under the influence of drugs return to their schools to speak to the children and convince the teachers to conduct drug testing. While this controversy is met with confusion and questioning thoughts from the students, the parents are definitely opposing the idea. The parents main reason of not allowing this is because they trust their children and desire to exercise their civil liberty.
• During this phase, teachers seemed to support the idea of students having drug testings when entering or participating in a significant extra-curricular activity, whatever this make be. From coaches holding leadership of serious league teams to teachers holding advanced educational club meetings to simply administrative, authoritarian figures finding the idea to be very appealing. At this point, our teachers and mentors and leaders are not looking for people who can perform the job the best, rather the people who have the best self morals and habits. Most teachers acted as deterrents for students encountering harmful drugs such as steroids, marijuana, and alcohol. They were watching out for their children for a prolonged amount of time, but now that the schools are conducting these tests, they are relieved for their students.
• The main reason the school districts have decided upon such as drastic measure is because they intend to spread social awareness and warning to their students to quit drugs or be discovered and suffer the various consequences of refusing to do so. They believe that they are just embodying every other student using drugs, every other concerned parent, teacher, or guardian, and every other responsible school district. After the various tests were conducted, research and statistics that were compiled prove that students, especially the competitive athletes, were not abusing steroids and other growth-hormones, which was oddly unexpected by coaches who were training these abnormally rapidly growing children. The higher amount of students who were consuming drugs were usually using marijuana, but only in a few rare cases found.
• The main point of beginning drug testing in middle school with these low grades and young people who would rarely even risk touching over-the-counter medicine out of fear is to warn the children that this is what they are most likely going to be exposed to in the future and most prepare and arm themselves so that their hard work and determination this far throughout life is not ruined, flushed down the toilet, because they decided to smoke one cigarette or sip some alcohol. Companies such as Sport Safe and Drug-Testing Coalition have already dedicated themselves to planting these seeds of prevention in the minds of the middle school students and others younger. They also, most importantly believe that the eldest children have made their decision on the course of their life, whereas the younger ones can still be positive outcomes.

                                            

Sustainable Development Facts - Navo

• More than 1 million people do not have access to fresh water.  If people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs the world would save US$120 billion annually. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa. The global average sea level rose by 19 cm (7.4 in) from 1901 to 2010, as oceans expanded due to warming and melting ice.
• 1 in 5 people in the world still lacks access to modern electricity. 1 in 3 people people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines. Up to 1.5 billion people still do not have access to reliable phone services. The rate of children leaving primary school in conflict affected countries reached 50% in 2011. As of 2008, land degradation affected 1.5 billion people globally.
• 79% of imports from developing countries enter developed countries duty-free. 80% of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant-based medicines for basic healthcare.
• 66 million primary school age children across the developing world attend classes hungry. One-fifth of the world's final energy consumption in 2013 was from renewables. 121 million children of primary and lower-secondary school age were out of school in 2014.
• 828 million people live in slums today and the number keeps rising. Each year, an estimated one third of all food produced ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling. Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need for maternity.

Sundar Pichai - Navo

• Sundar Pichai is a computer engineer and the current CEO of Google Inc. The technology giant Google, which specializes in Internet-related services and products, underwent a major corporate restructuring in 2015 following which Alphabet Inc was launched as its parent company with co-founders Larry Page as its CEO and Sergey Brin as President.
• Pichai, who had been serving as Google’s head of Products and Engineering, was named the new CEO of Google which is the biggest company under Alphabet Inc. Mr. Pichai had joined Google years ago in 2004 as a product manager and led the innovative efforts for several of Google’s products including Google Chrome and Chrome OS which went on to become highly successful. 
• Eventually he took over the management of other Google products like Gmail and Google Docs, and rose through the ranks rapidly. Born in Chennai, India, Pichai was bright and creative from a young age. Having received his education from some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, he worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and in management consulting at McKinsey & Company before becoming a part of Google.

EARLY LIFE

• He was born as Pichai Sundararajan on July 12, 1972, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. His father, Regunatha Pichai, worked as an electrical engineer for the British conglomerate GEC and managed a factory that made electrical components. 
• His mother used to be a stenographer before having children. He has one brother. Pichai grew up in a middle-class home and was a bright student. He excelled academically at his school, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, and earned a seat in the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, one of the most prestigious engineering institutions in India.

EDUCATION

• He initially planned to pursue a Ph.D. from Stanford and embark on an academic career. However, he dropped out and joined Applied Materials—a Silicon Valley semiconductor makeras an engineer and product manager. He did not work there for long.
• He went on to complete his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (2002), where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.Following the completion of his MBA he was appointed as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
• He joined Google in 2004. Initially he worked on Google’s search toolbar as a part of a small team. The toolbar gave users of Internet Explorer and Firefox easy access to Google search.He also worked on other Google products like Google Gears and Google Pack. The success of Google’s toolbar gave Pichai the idea that Google should develop its own browser. He discussed his idea with his seniors and faced an objection from then-CEO Eric Schmidt, who thought that developing a browser would be a too expensive affair.
• However, Pichai persevered and convinced the co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, to launch Google’s own browser. Pichai played a pivotal role in the ultimate launch of the browser, Google Chrome, in 2008. Chrome proved to be a great success as it allowed the users to directly access Google’s search engine.

FUN FACTS

• Sundar Pichai is a huge cricket fan and was the captain of his school cricket team.
• His family did not possess a phone until he was 12.
• He once tried to talk a friend out of working at Google before joining the company himself.
• Sundar Pichai joined Google even before the company went public.
• He is very good at remembering numbers and could remember every telephone number he dialed when he was young.

Bernie Madoff - Anita

• Bernie Madoff was born on April 29, 1938, in the Queens, New York City, New York. His parents were Ralph and Slyvia Madoff. While Ralph was the child of Polish immigrants who had migrated to America, pursuing a plumbing business which Bernie's father had carried on. Slyvia was simply a housewife, the daughter of a mixture of Austrian and Romanian immigrants. The two European  immigrants were married in the year of 1932, at the very height of the famous Great Depression. As they seemed to struggle with money matters and the economy for a prolonged amount of time, they eventually became involved in finance when the time was right. Later on in his life, Bernie would be influenced by this and the stock market.
• The Madoff began a broker-dealer business in Bernie's early life, which became less than successful. While his parents had long wished that they could produce more money after the Great Depression, they eventually received a tax lien of over $13,000 on their home that actually went unpaid from 1956 to 1965. These failures probably led Bernie to lose interest in his parents' occupation. His focus and time was dedicated more towards his girlfriend, Ruth Alpert, whom he had met at Far Rockaway High School, along with his passion for his swim team. When he was not attending swim meets or occupying himself any other way, his swim coach would hire him to lifeguard at Silver Point Beach Club in Atlantic City in his teens.
• Bernie attended the University Of Alabama, and, married his high school sweetheart, attending nearby Queens College. They settled together and eventually had two children, Mark and Andrew Madoff. While both have sadly passed, they were great people who suffered. Together Bernie did not look into beginning a company associated with the stock market until he planned the tomake investments for personal, selfish benefits. In 1960, Bernie used $5,000 from his lifeguard savings to begin installing sprinkler systems so that he could eventually make enough money to create his dream investment business, which was now his passion and focus. His business began successfully, even having clients such as Steven Spielberg. 
• In December of 2008, Bernie was discovered, along with the elaborate Ponzi-Scheme he had been running while his multi-million dollar company seemed to be oddly prospering, along with the excuses he made for where his investors' money went and why all his false records claimed that every time an investor desired to withdraw money or check th statuses of their stocks, the outcome was always incredibly high. Even after Bernie pleaded for being accused of eleven felonies and imprisoned for 150 years, the government attempted to recover money for the investors who had not been returned theirs from the false company. While they were able to recover a large amount, many investors lost vital life savings that were curtails to them.
• Bernie Madoff's family, along with himself, suffered greatly after his arrest and imprisonement, especially because his family did not even have knowledge that he was running this false business until he admitted to them after he was convinced the government would discover this. Bernie's eldest son, Mark, committed suicide at the age of 46 in 2010 in his apartment by hanging himself because of the trust issue people applied to him due to his father's mistakes, while Andrew, at the age of 48, lost his battle to lymphoma. Meanwhile, his innocent wife, Ruth, was striped of all he belongings, and was forced to recreate herself after her husband's mistakes. Bernie claims that he had great grieveances for his family and their hardships.

                                  

Dmitri Mendeleev - Anita

• Dmitri Ivanovitch Mendeleev was born on February 8, 1834, in the isolated and tundra-like regions of Tobolsk, Siberia. His mother, Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleev, accompanied by his father, Ivanovitch Pavlovich, had seventeen children as a couple, Dmitri being the youngest of the family. In the unfortunate year of 1847, Dmitri's father was struck blind, therefore not having the abilities his once had to perform his occupation and feed/provide for his family of eighteen. Therefore, as he was hospitalized, Dmitri's mother was pushed into the glass industry when she purposefully opened a private factory to support the family, which also unfortunately burned down the same year that Dmitri's father had passed from other medical conditions.
• Dmitri's mother always desired the best provided for her son throughout his hectic childhood, and when the time came to enroll him into a successful college, mother and son walked nearly a thousand miles just to reach a decent university in Moscow, Russia. Dmitri's mother even stayed positive when they refused to admit her child, and sent them backwards on their thousand-mile journey. She wanted her son to have top-class education, and he was luckily accepted into St. Petersburg Institute Of Pedagogy, or the profession of teaching, on a full scholarship. His mother unfortunately died the same year, and Dmitri Mendeleev was orphaned at the age of sixteen. He graduated with a dejgree in math and science, but returned for masters.
• As Dimitri's adulthood arrived, he eventually married Feozva Nikitchna Lascheva, with whom he had two children: a son named Volodya and a daughter named Olga, after Dimitri's beloved sister. Dmitri later remarried a woman named Anna Ivanova Popova. From his total of two marriages, he had a total of six children. As a professor of chemistry at St. Petersburg Technological Institute, he was in need of a quality textbook with which he could base his curriculum and teachings to students off of. Therefore, he created his own copy through a great amount of research and experimentation, called The Principles Of Chemistry. While he was conducting experimentation and research on his book, Dmitri made his greatest achievement.
• While he was researching and writing his book in the 1860s, Dmitri's experimentation is what deemed him the father of the periodic table. Using his previously known knowledge and combining that with the new laws of chemistry he had discovered, he categorized elements depending on their physical and chemical properties, along with organizing the families into periods depending upon the atomic weight of the element. This odd grid-like chart that Dmitri organized was deemed the periodic table of elements. This complex table was organized by one man in the short time of five years. Not only had he categorized them on the characteristics listed above, but also had them organized depending upon other complex attributes/properties.
• Before his death, Dmitri assisted the Russian government on determining petroleum production, coal industry, advanced agricultural methods, new types of gunpowder, and even government matters such as the national tariffs. He received honorary rewards such as from Oxford and Cambridge and the Royal Society Of London. Dmitir finally died on February 2, 1907, and his funeral was held in St. Petersburg, where his loyal students held the periodic table as a tribute to his life's worth and dedication of scientific work of formulating the periodic table. The periodic table is still used today, ranging from a variety of male to female, and child to adult. Any occupation can utilize the table. Dmitri Mendeleev has bonded the world forever.

                                                

Why do we get our best ideas in the shower? - Navo

• Creativity, while seemingly a very vague activity, is actually a distinct process triggered by a few key factors. 
• A lot of dopamine is released in our brains. Triggers like exercising, listening to music, and, yes, taking a warm shower, contribute to increased dopamine flow. 
• We're relaxed. When we have a relaxed state of mind, we're more likely to turn attention inwards, able to make insightful connections. 
• We're distracted. Distraction gives our brains a break so our subconscious can work on a problem more creatively.
• A dopamine high, relaxed state, and distracted mind: No wonder great ideas happen in the shower.The most important lesson from this is to make sure you have a way to capture your ideas whenever and wherever they happen. 
• If you come up with a idea and tend to forget the idea, there is Aqua Notes. Aqua Notes is a waterproof notepad you can mount on the wall. 

Teenage Responsibility - Navo

• Responsibility
• the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management
• Responsibility is a wonderful attribute to have in a child, teenager, adult. Already when your children are young, you can assign them chores to demonstrate that members of a family work together to maintain the home and that Mom is not the cleaning woman. 
• In addition, responsibility brings maturity and increases self-esteem, as the child recognizes that he or she is a capable person. Teens should be responsible for their homework, their own room, and for cleaning up after their own projects.
• Usually, teenagers should be able to carry out whatever chores they're given just as well as an adult, although they may need a training period.In addition, teenagers should be held responsible for their actions. If they lose something through carelessness, they should pay for a replacement or work to earn money to pay for it. If they forget an appointment, they should be the ones to call, apologize and reschedule.