Monthly Archives: January 2010
Texting and Driving PSA
If you are even questioning the dangers of texting while driving, watch this short video. Made with £10,000, this road safety video was released in the United Kingdom and has caught the eye of millions of people around the world.
Viewer discretion is advised.
I’m Legal!
I have always looked forward to this day, but cannot believe that it is finally here. 18 comes with responsibilities, but also with it comes many great benefits. For instance, I’m now able to run for the House (just saying).
As I transition from high school to college, I pray that my future will be as great as my past as I continue to work toward achieving my dreams.
Receive School Closing/Delay Announcements Without the TV
During winter, many parents, students, and teachers habitually focus on their televisions waiting to see if their county will have a two-hour delay or be closed the next school day. West Virginia offers a few great resources that are easy and free to receive these announcements without having to touch your television.
The West Virginia Department of Education will often have school closings and delays posted on the Internet before they are ever sent to television and radio stations. You can check out the closings page of the West Virginia Department of Education by visiting http://wvde.state.wv.us/closings/county/all/.
For those of you who have an addiction to checking your email, click here to visit a subscription page where you can sign up to receive emails from the West Virginia Department of Education as soon as they post school closings or delays for your county.
Of course, you will not always have access to the Internet. A great service is in place for you to sign up to receive messages of closings and delays via text message and phone call. (There is also an email option.) Click here to check out the Web site. One main difference that you will notice when using this site is that you will sign up by school, not county. Some schools have not been activated and will not send you alerts. When this happens, simply find a school within the same county that is using the service. This will only work, however, if closing or delaying the start of your school day is a part of a county-wide decision.
For an example, Shady Spring High School is an unregistered school. I signed up to receive alerts for Shady Spring Junior High School and received a call that announced a two-hour delay shortly after.
As always, use your own discretion when using any of these services and cross check your sources.
Gonna Be a Close One
For all the students lucky enough to have an extra week of Christmas Break, there’s a good chance that today could end the streak of seven snow days. With the temperatures expected to remain frigid later this morning, however, counties across southern West Virginia may be forced to once again close schools. Many districts, including my home county of Raleigh, have already called for a two-hour delay.
As I’m writing this, the windchill is one degree below zero. A couple sources have the windchill in the morning around three to four degrees which may be considered dangerous for students who have to walk to school or make their way to a bus stop.
The Sun did a great job melting main roads today, but many back roads are still untouched and most manpower is focussed on protecting the main roads from potential precipitation. Nevertheless, even if school is cancelled today, it will most certainly be the last snow day for a while.
For updates on public school closings in West Virginia, visit http://wvde.state.wv.us/closings/county/all.
UPDATE: Today did end the streak of snow days. Now the weatherman is torturing us with possibly a snow storm tonight.
Cabin Fever
Click on the calendar for a larger view.
Today marks yet another day that I have been relieved from the burden of having to wake up at 6:20 A.M., eat a quick breakfast, and drive off to school before the Sun gives its first light. Sounds wonderful, right? Not quite.
My entire family has a Type A personality, meaning that we are very energetic people who don’t feel that excessive down time is relaxful. Even when we vacation to a beach, we can only stand sitting by the water for about an hour. We spend most of our time going on excursions, shopping, and playing mini golf.
Both of my parents work in education. My mother teaches in Raleigh County (calendar above) and my father is a principal in neighboring Fayette County. Since the silent blizzard has blown through, schools have been closed in both Fayette and Raleigh Counties. The first couple days were enjoyable. I had some work to finish up and enjoyed relaxing. As the week progressed, however, my parents and I were in dire need of entertainment. The roads were too bad to drive on and the snow just kept falling as it is still doing as I am writing this.
The most amusing part of this week has been my Dad. I knew he was hard up for entertainment when he forbid my mom and I from shoveling the driveway. Dad has been talking about retiring in a few years from education. After this week, I think he may put his retirement on hold for a few more years.
Overall, this has been an enjoyable break. I do not mind the time off, but I have a bad case of cabin fever.
Poll: 3G War
I have given my take on the media war between AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Now, I want to see who you vote as the better cell phone carrier.
Less is More
If you are familiar with the Cold War, you know that some of the tactics included the strategic use of propaganda: deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread by, in this case, the government. Among other things, the Cold War was the medium for both sides to prove that their country and form of government was the strongest.
Today, a very different Cold War is taking place, the 3G War. The war is between the iPhone wielding AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The argument is very simple. First, Verizon Wireless released commercials bloating, “we have 5 times more 3G coverage nationwide.” Then, AT&T released commercials with the argument that “you can surf the web while talking on the phone. You can’t on AT&T.” (Note that AT&T didn’t exactly argue the claims of their competitor.)
Both arguments seem legitimate, but I believe Verizon Wireless comes out on top because they convey their message with one simple idea: “our maps are bigger than your maps.” Upon further review, however, the claims by Verizon Wireless are a bit misleading. The commercials by Verizon Wireless only compare 3G network coverage, not coverage of the older 2G network. In other words, Verizon Wireless claims that it can deliver the faster 3G coverage to more Americans than AT&T.
Check out a couple commercials and decide for yourself who gives the more compelling argument. When you’re finished watching, take a few seconds to vote on who you believe is the best cell phone carrier:
My brother pointed this whole debacle out a couple weeks ago. More commercials like these are plastered all over the Internet. Ahh… these videos give me the feeling that elections are coming up again.
