Category Archives: Good Happenings
Wikipedia Narrative
I’ve always been fascinated with speaking. Something about the idea of using one’s voice to persuade or teach another is very intriguing. Wikipedia, known as the free online encyclopedia, is actively working to add narrative to every one of its encyclopedia articles. I found out about this initiative, known as the Spoken Wikipedia Project, and decided give it a shot.
I found a short article that would be easy to narrate, but one that would also give me a good taste of the project.
The article: Grace (style). Visit the article by clicking here and tell me what you think!
2009 Shady Spring Football Senior Night
Listen to Senior Night Welcome (Hover over link to show the WordPress audio player.)
Football Players
- Nick Akers
- Kaleb Farmer
- David Harvey
- Willy Lilly
- Taylor Modley
- Will Ort
- Nick Palchesko
- Michael Pinardo
- Josh Weeks
- Nathan Wilburn
- Michael Midgley, Manager
- Josh Vance, Manager
Band
- Terri Belcher
- Amna Khan
- Kayla Massie
- David Osborne
- John Osborne
- Emily Perdue
- Matt Pitts
- Nick Pritchard
- Megan Richmond
- Matt Stevens
Cheerleaders
- Madison Bowles
- Sarah Griffith
- Brittany Lilly
Oath of Office
“I Christian Martine do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia…”
“…and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the West Virginia Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being to the best of my skill and judgment, SO HELP ME GOD.”
View more pictures and documents here. See the story on WVNS.
Christian Martine Appointed to State-Level Drug Prevention Advisory Group
Shady Spring High senior Christian Martine has been appointed to the WV Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being. Martine, 17 of Daniels, WV, will take the Oath of Office tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. He will be sworn in by Judge H. L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick, III at the Raleigh County Courthouse. Read full story…
Remotely Shut Down Your Computer With a Cell Phone
One of my favorite things to do with my cell phone, is to show my friends how it can shut down my computer. Better yet, set up on their computer, this is a cool trick to make others think that you have super powers.
You will need Microsoft Outlook configured with a POP3 E-Mail service (e.g. Yahoo, Google), a text to E-Mail service (e.g. Kwiry), and, obviously, a cell phone that can text. None of the steps are very complicated. It should take around 15 minutes for everything to be up and working.
- Create a shutdown.bat file. Open Notepad and type c:\windows\system32\shutdown -s -f -t 00. Then, save it to your C drive for easy reference.
- Set up a Kwiry account. This services forwards any text messages it receives from you to your cell phone.
- Set up a rule in Outlook that will tell the computer to shutdown the computer. Go to Tools > Rules and Alerts. Then click, New Rule. Select “Start from a blank rule” and make sure it’s set to “Check messages when they arrive” and click Next. On the next page, check the box that says “with specific words in the subject line”. At the bottom of the window, click on the “specific words” link and it will allow you to enter the subject line that you want it to look for. Any message sent from Kwiry begins with “your kwiry -”. To make things simple, type “your kwiry – shutdown.” Click Add and OK. Then click Next. On the next page, select “start an application.” Click on the application link and find the shutdown.bat file on your C drive. In the browse box, change the search parameters from Applications (.exe.) to all file types. Then click Next and Finish.
- Send a text message saying “shutdown” to Kwiry (59479). As soon as your Outlook E-Mail inbox refreshes and your message comes through, you computer will open the shutdown.bat file and begin to close your computer.
For a helpful video, visit Instructables.
I love this tutorial, because it truly shows the capabilities of today’s technology. Set up correctly, I can control my computer solely with my cell phone. Enjoy!
Cut the Tension
Back story: I was watching the Price Is Right when they were playing Cliff Hangers. (It’s the game with the yodeler.) For every dollar the contestant misses the “actual retail price” of each of the three items, the yodeler climbs one step up the mountain. If the guesses exceed $25, he falls off the cliff. The song that’s played is fun and catchy.
Anyways, I was in a meeting not long ago that seemed to be dragging on a bit and started playing the song. Everyone lightened up. Here it is:
The Price is Right – Cliff Hangers (Hover over link to show the WordPress audio player.)
The song is definitely out of the ordinary, but have fun with it; listen to it after a bad day, change your ringtone, change your friend’s ringtone…
The Eagle Has Landed
I just received a call from my aunt that my uncle (Sgt. Mike Pedri) has landed at Yeager Airport and is about to be on his way home. He is currently on a short vacation from his tour in Iraq serving in the United States Army. He has been gone for months and it just feels surreal that he was actually in Iraq. I can’t be more proud of him and I am just thankful to God that he has arrived home safely.
This Sunday, I will be going to his home for a cookout with family and friends. Today is truly a special day. I cannot wait to see him!
Finally, a blog…
For the past few years, my brother has encouraged me to start a blog. For one reason or another, I always said no to the idea. Years after my brother encouraged me to start a blog for the first time, I finally have taken the leap!
Even though I have only created a few posts, I have found a blog to be a great place to write my ideas and happenings and express my what I’m feeling about… well, anything. My wish is that I can give some enjoyment to readers, but more importantly, I want to have fun documenting my life and those who surround it.
As I enter my senior year of high school, I expect my life to move like a roller coaster. Some days will be rough, but most will be filled with learning new things and creating great memories. When I do graduate next year, I hope to look back on my postings and reflect on the journey I’ve taken—classes passed, projects finished, friends made—and come out of the year knowing that I have not only prepared for my future, but that I have also helped in making the future of others brighter.
So, to my brother Albert, thanks.
Please check out his blog at www.abigpond.com and also find it on my Blogroll. I guarantee it will put a smile on your face 
WVSADD Retreat 2009
For the past three days, I have had the honor and privilege to plan the 2009 West Virginia Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) State Conference along side other members of the West Virginia Student Leadership Council (SLC). On November 15, over 200 SADD students from all around West Virginia will make their way to Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV to embark on a packed three day program to educate teens about the issues affecting their areas and how they can make a difference.
In addition to planning conference, we had some great brainstorming and planning sessions. The SLC is divided into the Field Services and Programming teams. The Field Services team is concentrated on recruiting new SADD students, creating new SADD chapters, and connecting with outside organizations. The Programming team is concentrated on developing new and exciting programs to implement in SADD chapters and programs.
To further the development of West Virginia SADD, the Field Services team has chosen to use the four regions of the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center as their own. The adopted regions will assist West Virginia SADD to network with city and county leaders. This connection will allow individual SADD chapters to not only connect with their communities, but with the other chapters in the state. Other plans made by the Field Services team include having an annual report written by the SLC, an updated database with every school in the state with and without a SADD chapter, and the creation of more SADD chapters in elementary, middle, and high schools.
The Programming team is working on a publication ab0ut the modern activities that any SADD chapter can do. To make the publication more effective, the Programming team is connecting each project to one or more of the six prevention strategies: information dissemination, education, alternatives, problem identification and referral, environment, and community-based process.
Both the Field Services and Programming teams realize that the Internet is the top communication medium for young people. Therefore, a larger investment in the West Virginia SADD Web site, Facebook page, Twitter, and other social network pages is being considered.
All in all, these three days have been great. I’ve gotten to know my fellow SLC member a lot better, learned much about the drug prevention organizatins in West Virginia, and had a great time in the process. Hope to see you at the state conference!
