Apartheid

Apartheid was a racist, discriminate law created by the white settlement in South Africa in the 1940's. The word Apartheid comes from the Afrikaans word meaning "apartness," and was created to show the difference between the races. South Africans were divided into three categories, black Africans(Bantu), white, and mixed races. This law lasted from the 1940's until the 1990's.

80% of South Africa's land was used for white residence, even though only 10% of the population was white people. This law also meant that transportation, housing, and public restrooms, were all separated by the color of people's skin.

Nelson Mandela, was one of the few people that was involved with the African National Congress, a multi-racial nationalist movement trying to change the law in South Africa. With all the riots going on about this law, the government began to stop the Apartheid system. Later on, Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president. 

Computer Systems

  My first ICT topic in this new school year is about computer systems. So far, I have learnt how to assemble a computer, install an operating system, and the basics on how a network works. These topics have taught me how the things we use everyday work.

Four Layer Model

      Before starting our topic we first had to learn about the four layer model. The outer layer is people because we are the ones that use computers. The next layer is network, because we use the internet almost everyday. This includes the internet, local network, domain name, IP address, and ping. The next layer is software, which is the operating system in a computer. This includes BIOS, operating system, and applications on a computer. The last layer is hardware. This is the parts inside a computer or laptop that keeps it running. Some examples include the CPU, motherboard, RAM, HDD, power supply, and the case.

The 6 Main Components of a Computer

This first picture shows the case. It is what keeps all the components together, and it also keeps away dirt from the inside parts.

The picture on the left shows the mother board. This is what keeps all of the computer's parts together (e.g. the CPU, RAM, etc.).

This picture shows the CPU(central processing unit). This is where all the date is processed. The speed of the computer depends on how fast the CPU runs. It pretty much is the computer.

This image shows the HDD(hard disk drive). It stores data. For example, if you save a document in a certain folder in your computer, it is stored in this harddrive.

This is the flash memory, commonly known as the RAM. Data is temporary stored in this memory for faster access. The bigger the size, the faster the computer runs.

This is the power supply. Power supply gets power from the wall socket and converts it to different voltage levels as required by different peripherals of the computer. 

Installing an Operating System

The logo on the right is the Ubuntu logo. This is a Linux based desktop operating system. An operating system is what runs your computer. Each group was given a CD and we had to install this software into a desktop computer to learn how to install an operating system.

Networking

    We first had to connect to a router using a RJ45 cable. A router is a distributor. It has the ability to connect several devices to a network. A RJ45 cable is a connecter used to connect a modem to a telephone network.
    We also learnt how to ping other computers. Ping is a utility which is used to question other computers in order to determine whether there is a connection. On a macbook, there is an application called terminal, which allows you to type commands to a computer. What you do to ping another computer is type ping and then the other computer's IP address. You can also ping websites. For example, if you want to ping google.com, you have to type ping and then google.com.

Personal Reflection

    I think that this ICT topic is very interesting. I get to learn that what I use every day is not as easy as it seems, but very complicated like when I open a new application on my computer, or when I type something in a Word document. I do get confused at some points, but I think I now have learnt most of it. So far, I have enjoyed my ICT lessons.

Representation in Media

Media is the means of communication to influence or send a message to people widely. Some media forms include radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. All media texts are representations of reality. They are artificial versions of the things that are actually happening around us. Without media, we would know very little of what is happening around us, but since we have media, we know a lot about the things that are going on in this world.
Media in any form extend experiences of reality by giving audiences information. If you watch a World War II documentary or read a newspaper article about political events happening in another continent, it helps us extend our knowledge about this planet. The down side is, the producers of the media have selected the media we see, so we don't get every piece of information on a topic and we also don't know if the information is true or not.
Gender is used to categorize human beings, and is also one thing used in media representation. Humans aren't the only things represented as masculine and feminine, objects too. 
Feminine characters are often represented as being part of a group (e.g family, friends) and working in a team. Representation of women focus on beauty, size, emotions, relationships, and sexuality. In drama, they usually have a passive role rather than an active role. Masculine characters are often represented as always being alone and not needing to rely on others. Representation of men are focused on strength, power, attractiveness, and physique, and independence. 
The media use these stereotypical characters to make the viewers feel insecure because they don't look or act like the character they are seeing.

5 Google Search Tips

These tips will help you search better on google and get what you need.

1. Keep what you search for simple. When you want to search something, keep it simple. You don't want to describe it too much.

2. Use the words that you think most likely to appear on the page. you are looking for. Think of the page that you are looking for. What sort of word would appear on it? You want to use some of those words to make a better search.
3. Describe what you want with a few words as possible. Whatever you are looking for, don't use too much words to describe it. The fewer words you use, the better.
4. Use descriptive words. Even though you are using less words, you still have to make them descriptive. Be as descriptive as you can.
5. Use the time saving shortcuts that google provides. Google provides something called 'time saving shortcuts.' I you are looking for [weather in Phoenix, Arizona] you can simply click the weather icon and then put [Phoenix, Arizona].

Google Docs

The top essay is about the life of a river. It was for Humanities.
The bottom questions is what I had to do after reading a passage called "Out in Umphang". It was for English.

Weathering, Erosion and Deposition

I chose this video because we are currently learning about weathering, erosion, and deposition in Humanities.In this video, a scientist goes around to different places in Texas to find different examples of erosion. It taught me a lot about weathering and erosion.

Bad Bloggers

Blogging can be fun and exciting, if you are doing it for good things. Here are some examples of blogging that has gone wrong!


Ellen Simonetti
A lady named Ellen Simonetti got fired form her job as a flight attendant because she took pictures of herself inappropriately in her flight attendant uniform. She called herself "The Queen of the Sky."
Catherine Sanderson
A lady named Catherine Sanderson aka known as"La Petite Anglaise" lost her job in Paris as a British accountancy firm because of her blogging.

In this blog, I will not be doing inappropriate blogging like that.