Mom and Dad Love(d) Me Best. Are You Sure?

Reference:

Newman, S. (2010, January 10). Mom and dad love(d) me best. Are you sure? Psychology Today. Retrieved January 27, 2010, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/36773

Summary:

According to this article, only one child can get parents' attention very easily. If there are more than one child in a family, it is very difficult for parents to give the same rights for each person. Every child wants to become the favorite. For example, the author tells her experience to us about her two daughters. Then, she shows the other people found that the kid will have his/her own idea when they feel it is unfair with other brothers or sisters. Maybe, the kid will think about the negative things in his/her mind. Finally, Newman shares two ladies' experience to us.

Reaction:

I agree with the author, even though I am only one child in my family. In China, the government has only an one child policy. We can not have brothers or sisters in one family, except if they are twins or triplets. However, Chinese children have cousins in the family. If s/he can easily get your parents' attention, you will get jealous or get mad about him/her. I had this experience, I have a cousin whose age is close to mine. When I was a primary school student, my parents always asked me to get an A, and become the best student in school, and then they would take me to some place for travelling. I got an A and I was the best student in school; however, they did not take me to go anywhere. My cousin does not like to study, also he always failed the exams. But his parents and my parents gave him some gifts and wanted him to improve his score. I did not have anything when I got an A. I felt so bad and thought about negative things; at that time, I hate of my cousin because I thought that he was my parents' child and he took all of my parents' attentions. Now, my cousin has become my best friend in my family. I like talking to him for everything like a brother; also he can keep a secret from other family members.

Ji-yun, Lee RRJ

Reference:
Miller, C. (2010, Feb 22). Selling a celebrity look. The New York Times. Retrieved on Feb 28, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/technology/internet/22celebrity.html

Summary:
When the pictures of celebrities by a paparazzi were put in a magazine or blog, the fans and readers analyzed the photos and wanted to know about their clothes, what the brand is, and wherethey can buy that. So publishers, bloggers, retailers, and fashion companies established a strategic alliance with each other. For example, the publishers gave information, brand, cost, the similar products, location of shop, and so on, to readers and they received a small fee from retailers or companies. Customers, especially young women, pride themselves on having products which are the same products as celebrities, so they want to buy the products which are the same as those of celebrities. If it costs a lot, they decided to buy similar one by any means.

Reaction:
It is a new way to advertise in the fashion industry, because in the past a picture was everything to advertise clothes. So the retailers and companies made an effort to reveal their products by celebrities, so they provided clothes and accessories to celebrities who came into the spotlight. The effect is really powerful; for instance, when the paparazzi snapped photos of Sienna Miller in Hollywood, she covered her face with a Korean cosmetic brand’s shopping bag; the name was Amorepacific. At that time Amorepacific was an unknown brand, but now it is the best brand among Hollywood stars and celebrities because of that photo. Sometimes the companies try to shoot fashion commercial photos look like paparazzi’s photos because it is easier to get attention from the customers. And they usually provide expensive products to celebrities because they believe customers’ tendency will help companies’ profit.

Then, why do people want to buy the same goods as celebrities’ even when it costs a lot? I think that tendency came from person’s desire to want to look like them, gorgeous and cool. So they always care about celebrities’ fashion, life style, and everything.

Takako's RRJ

Reference:

Wentz, L. (2010, Feb 18). Canada's marketers celebrate Olympics. Advertising Age. Retrieved Feb 21, 2010, from http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=142163

Summary:

A lot of Canadian companies rolled out their advertisements in order to boost the Olympic games in Vancouver. These ads are evaluated highly, and Canada's ad industry is focused on as much as the athletes in the Olympic games. There are some interesting ones among these ads for the Olympics. In terms of the one by Taxi, Bombardier, which designed the 12,000 Olympic torches, created the spot that demonstrated that the torches are weatherproof even in wintry Canada. Bell, Canada's telephone and telecommunications company, has bought air time for more than 2,000 commercials during the Winter Games. Its agencies created various ads, 24 English-language and 23 French-language TV spots to prevent people getting tired of the Bell's ad. The spots appear to sell Canadian niceness as well as their merchandise. Tim Horon's, the Canadian coffee shop, rolled out a tear-worthy spot dubbed “Welcome Home” during coverage of the Olympic opening ceremonies. The spot shows a tearful story, a reunion of family. The family seems to have been separated for some time; the husband reunites with his wife and two kids at the airport with the winter coats that he prepared for them, and he hands his wife a cup of Tim Horton's coffee and welcomes her to Canada. Tom Horton's offers consumers a place to tell their stories and upload videos and pictures; the spot is based on the one of their stories. Wrigley, a chewing gum manufacturer, is donating a portion of their gum sales to Canadian athletes. People can participate in its financial support for the athletes by chewing more of their gum, and they also can see the amount of the donation on giant digital billboards updated every 60 seconds. Wrigley changed the package of gum to the one printed with an image of a Canadian athlete, and added a small Canadian maple leaf to each gum piece.

Reaction:

The Olympic Games cause big economic effect to each country whether it is the site of the Olympic or not. Therefore, companies all over the world create various ads for the Olympic to boost their sales, and these ads tend to be better than their usual ads. The Tim Horton's spot expresses human's delicate emotion well in a 90-second spot. The husband welcomes all visitors to Canada as well as his family in the spot, and the Tim Horton's coffee warms his wife; also “the Tim Horton's spot” warms our hearts by the tearful story. A woman watching the family with a smile in the spot reflects audience who are watching the spot; we are in the same situation that is watching the tearful reunion of the family. I think that we feel a sense of seeing ourselves in a mirror when the woman appears in the picture, and we may make a similar expression as her. The spot uses various techniques to make people move their emotions; one of them is that they created the spot to be based on a true story contributed in EveryCup.ca, a place where consumers tell their stories. People can feel the story closely and the spot highlights the connection between Tim Horton's and customers. Wrigley also attracted many people by its interesting strategy, large-scale fund-raising for the Canadian athletes and showing the amount of the donation on giant digital billboards. People can participate in the fund-raising by buying their gum, and they can feel more of a sense that they support the Canadian athletes when they look of the billboard. These provoke people's consumer appetite because they want to support the Canadian athletes, and Wrigley offers people the way to support them in an easy way.

Satomi's RRJ

Reference:

Schmid, R. (2010, February 20). Research finds brain link for words, music ability; finding may lead to better stroke care. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 22, 2010,from http://www.latimes.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-us-sci-words-and-music,0,5341031.story

Summary:

Natural partners such as words and music work together obviously. Scientists are thinking that these abilities are connected in the brain. Also, a new study mentions that extensive musical therapy may help stroke patients to improve their speech. In addition, music education can give a good speech for children who have developmental dyslexia or autism. A long time ago, there were some reports about stroke patients who couldn’t talk but could sing. Today, researchers are trying to find the answer if music can help them as a therapy. According to director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, new studies mention that musical training can improve the ability to do other things in the brain. Musical experience enhances important abilities such as understanding the nuances of language more accurately in our life. When people learn to talk and talk to babies, they usually use musical things. Many years’ musical training will be able to improve how sounds are developed in language and emotion. Also, music involves large parts on both sides of the brain. Some scientists think that musical ability in humans may be developed before language.

Reaction:

I’m listening to music almost every day. I can hear many kinds of sounds in daily life. Before I read the article, I heard about music therapy just a little. I was thinking that it is just for relaxing, but it has many abilities to improve speech skills. I was surprised that playing an instrument has some benefits, and it involves our brain. Also, I was interested in that some people can’t talk, but can sing. They have some problems with speaking in their brain or mind; however, they can communicate by using music. It is an amazing research because I didn’t know music has such great power. People have to have some experience with musical instruments for many abilities in future. According to the article, we can get a good hearing system if we have these experiences. Therefore, it is good for learning language. It will be good to hear the different words as music, not as just words.

Eunsu's RRJ

Hubble Images Show Pluto Changing Color

¤ Reference

The Associated Press (2010, February 4). Hubble Images Show Pluto Changing Color. The New York Times (Space&Cosmos). Retrieved on February 15, 2010. From http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/04/science/AP-US-SCI-Pluto.html?_r=1&ref=space

¤ Summary

Pluto’s color is changing to red. Astronomers who study planet’s colors are surprised. When people who don’t study planets see this picture, they might say it’s a yellow-orange color, but astronomers say it is 20 percent more red than before. These pictures show us that ice frozen nitrogen on Pluto is changing. Astronomer Marc Buie of the southwest Research Institute in Boulder said, “It’s a little bit of a surprise to see these changes happening so big and so fast.” Pluto didn’t change its color from 1954 to 2002. Buie can explain the red color on the planet, but he doesn’t explain why changing color is recently so fast. The planet has a lot of methane, which tends to make the planet red or dark. These pictures were taken in 2002 and studied why it changes so fast, but they didn’t find why. At the same time, the picture of the Pluto’s moon was also taken but it didn’t change. Thus it’s not an instrument mistake. The reason of difficulty of studying Pluto is that Pluto cycles the sun every 248 years. So, even astronomers don’t know what is going on when the planet is in the farthest position from the sun.

¤ Reaction

The situation in Pluto is really interesting to me, because nobody exactly know what happened in Pluto. Pluto is in the solar system and the farthest planet in solar system. Pluto has about -382 Fahrenheit spot. After Apollo went to the moon in 1968, the industry of the Universe has been developing. Many people including me think we know many things about the Universe and have defeated some part of solar system, because many movies show us a spacecraft and an alien. But the real world is not like that. The moon is the nearest planet to the earth. Also, going to the moon is not easy. I think the Universe has many mysteries and potentialities. We may find new resources that we need, but we can’t find them on the earth. Therefore, people should invest more in the Universe. I also worry about the life span of the planet. I heard every planet has a life time. Nobody knows why Pluto’s color is changing fast. If Pluto’s life time is almost at the end, and if it is just the beginning to the end of another planet’s life, this is a serious problem. Thus I believe we need more attention to the Universe, especially the solar system.

RJ's RRJ

Reference:

Salamone, G. (2010 February 21). “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter designed to delight wizards and muggles alike” NYDailynews. Retrieved on February 23, 2010 from http://www.nydailynews.com/travel/2010/02/21/2010-02-21_the_wizarding_world_of_harry_potter_designed_to_delight_wizards_and_muggles_alik.html?page=0

Summary:

There is such fantastic news for the fans to Harry Potter movies; the theme park titled “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will be coming soon. As we know, the author, who is named J.K. Rowling, became a well-known writer after her first edition of Harry Potter was published. Meanwhile, Harry Potter movies are so famous that it influenced the entire world; that’s why this theme park has attracted many people, even it is still under construction. Talking about something important in this theme park, it concludes 20 acres of amazing amusements, such as eateries and shops. Another thing that I want to highlight is also necessary; Hogwarts castle would be seen beyond the gates of Universal, and if has new technology and other characters we are never seen before. Another primary thing is the amusements, “a family-friendly roller coaster, flight of the Hippogriff, is a re-theming of the park’s Flying Unicom ride”. A little funny thing is Hagrid who is the half-giant would teach the visitors how to “ride” a hippogriff, this animal mixes the characters of a lion, an eagle, and a horse. Then shopping in this magical world also is exciting for fans. Zonko’s Joke Shop, Honeydukes Sweetshop, which appeared in the movies, are certainly kept in the theme park. By the way, Chocolate Frogs and Berty Botts’ Every Flavored Beans, are some foods that are traditional; instruments and keepsakes in the movies cannot be forgotten. The last thing I need to mention, the official opening date would be set at universalorlando.com. Also in the official website, you could figure out all of the details.

Reaction:

Firstly, I admit that I am a fan of Harry Potter. So after I read this article, I could realize how exciting be a fan. The first reason is that this theme park would make our dreams, which we extraordinarily want to participate in this magic world become true. Imagining this, when you walk around the alley of the park, the magic things are fill in the park: the owl is flying above your head, many wizards are slaving strange and fantastic mana potions, and many shops are described by hurricane lamps, magic stones, and wizards’ never extinguishable fire. Like in the real movie, or you can say “we are in the real Harry Potter’s world”. Even though, some people are not the fans for Harry Potter movies, they would feel how exciting and unbelievable if is through the amazing flight of the hippogriff, the interesting goods they have never seen before, and fantastic castles and groceries shops funny shapes. Another news are about the main actor named Daniel Radcliff who plays Harry on the big screen. He was very excited to hear these news like most normal fans. “I remember I would some out of films when I was younger and absolutely just wish that world could be real and I could be a part of it; it’s fantastic that people will actually get to realize everything they’re seen on screen”. It is easy to see, joining this world is really cool and funny, even the “real” Harry Potter. Well, on my own, I am looking forward to this theme park coming soon, and participating in this magic world right now.

Tingting's RRJ

Reference:

Dybas, C. and NSF. Cain, E. (2010, January 28). dinosaur discovery helps solve piece of evolutionary puzzle. National Science Foundation directorate for biological sciences (BIO), George Washington University, retrieved Feb. 1, 2010, from
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116291&org=BIO&from=news.

Summary:

This article tells us about the new evidence of a kind of dinosaurs, which looks like bird, but does not belong to birds. This kind of dinosaurs is distinct from the birds. National Science Foundation supposed some scientists’ expeditions. They went to Xinjiang Autonomous Region, a part of northwestern China. This place is famous for Late Jurassic fossils. After through many of expeditions, these scientists found many interesting fossils. Especially, they found the fossil of Haplocheirus, which was their major discovery. Haplocheirus is a transitional fossil; it displays an early evolutionary process, so it reflects the process that the later alvarezsaurs develop and change from earlier predatory dinosaurs. And this kind of fossil also proves the scientists’ predictions-the Alvarezsauridae is used to develop in the Late Jurassic time period. Besides, according this article, the Late Jurassic period is very important in that the birds evolved in this time.

Reaction:

After reading, I feel this expedition was historic. The new fossil can return a real situation of the Late Jurassic period, and let our people find the truth of the dinosaurs’ evolution. Before I held the same view with scientists, that the birds are evolved from the group of Alvarezsauridae. Even though this result is announced to republic but I was so shocked that I could not believe this fact. That is because it is totally different; the knowledge that students learned before was the opposite. In addition, as a Chinese I’m very proud of our country; this most important historic thing was found in China. This new discovery can help us to fix the erroneous theory, and let our students obtain the right knowledge; it is good for our science development. I realize that sometimes the firm knowledge maybe is wrong, even if people believe it for so many years. When we have different views, we should point out our questions, not just follow the rules.