FitBit or Apple Watch by Kellyn Roth and Mackenzie Leitzell

FitBit or Apple Watch, which one is worth your money?  We have interviewed a student about the Apple Watch and teacher about the Fitbit Charge, asking them several questions about it.  The Apple Watch has recently been portrayed as something of a must have for kids and adults.   Some qualities of the Apple Watch include the sheer quantity of apps provided, and its larger screen size.  The Fitbit, however, has longer battery power and is more affordable.   

 

 

We interviewed Jane Biddle, an 8th grade student about the Apple Watch and she informed us that the Apple Watch lost its battery quickly, considering its hefty price, but, on the other hand, she can get apps for it, look at pictures on it, and it even use its camera.  She told us that it wasn’t really a distraction in class, but she would have rather spent her $349.00 on something else.  Also, we know that to use an Apple Watch you must have an iPhone, which is something not all students own.  We got a different response about the Fitbit Charge HR from Mrs. Morris, the 6th grade music teacher.  Some of the features on her FitBit include something that tells you how many calories you have burned, steps you have taken, averages, and overall challenges.  The Fitbit Charge HR costs $149.95 and Mrs. Morris is delighted with its overall performance.  She told us that the Fitbit was totally worth her money, and she was glad that she purchased it.  Also, you only have to charge it once a week, which isn’t very often compared to the Apple Watch.

8 Fact About Instagram by Julia Genovese

Whether you use it all the time, or don’t own a phone, you’ve heard of Instagram. So before you post that #selfie, let me tell you eight things I bet you didn’t know about Instagram or its users.

 

 

1: The most used hashtags are #love and #selfie.

 

2: The filter that has the most likes and comments is Mayfair.

 

3: Almost 700 photos are uploaded to Instagram every second.

 

4: 70% of Instagram users check their feed at least once a day.

 

5: 68% of Instagram users are women.

 

6: The places where Instagram is most used are in the United States of America and Thailand.

 

7: 90% of Instagram users are 35 years old or younger.

 

8: Instagram has grown faster than Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

 

 

There you have it folks, eight facts about Instagram. But now, lemme take a selfie.

 

Coloring Books with Character by Jack Haris

Ever want your coloring creations to come to life?  Well you’re in luck, they have an app for that.  Disney imagineers at, surprise, Disney Research Centers created an app that makes your colored characters come to life. 

 

To make your creations come to life it’s easier than you think. All you need to do is buy a regular coloring book that is app compatible and download the app on your smartphone or tablet.  The app uses your device’s camera to detect what you are coloring.  Next the app uses special and advanced software to 2-d doodles to 3-d characters that dance and walk around your screen. You can also do it as you color. As you color the character the app colors your 3-d character too!

When users responded to the app Disney learned that 80% of trial users said that they were able to connect with the character and increased their interest with the activity of coloring. The app isn't meant to replace the low-tech practice of putting crayon to paper; it's only meant to ‘enhance engagement’ with this treasured pastime by offering a ‘magical digital overlay’ to accompany the act of coloring,” Disney said.  Meaning that they aren’t trying to take coloring away, they just want to add some magic.

Disney was not able to make this app in a day, it was a lot of hard work.  Disney created a “lookup map” for each character or coloring page.  That means that the pixels correspond with where they draw the colors.  The program automatically makes the back the same color.  So if you drew the characters hair pink the back of their head would automatically be pink.

You can download the app on google play and the app store and you can get the coloring books at most stores.  Let’s have fun with magic!

 

Fall '15 Movie Release Dates by Will Gustafson and Bryan Simms

Fall Movie Release Dates

By Will Gustafson and Bryan Simms

 

 

See below for a listing of release dates for movies this fall.

 

October 9: Pan, The Walk

 

October 16: Goosebumps

 

October 20: Attack on Titan: Part 2 (Only showing 10/20, 10/22, 10/27)

 

November 6: Spectre, The Peanuts Movie

 

November 20: Mockingjay Part 2

 

November 25: The Good Dinosaur

 

December 12: In the Heart of the Sea

 

December 18: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

December 23: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip

Pixar New Releases by Adrita Talukder

Have you heard? On November 25th, Pixar’s new movie, The Good Dinosaur, will come to theaters. In an alternate timeline where dinosaurs never went extinct, and dinosaur called Arlo befriends a boy who Arlo names Spot. But wait!!! Along with The Good Dinosaur, the short titled Sanjay's Super Team will be available for you to watch!

So this is 2015, almost 2016. Basically, we only have have to wait about more three years for Incredibles 2 to come out, right? Oops, I surely didn’t plan to let out the fact that there will be a sequel to the Incredibles. It will be released 15 years after the original, so we hopefully can expect little Jack-Jack to be all grown up? No information was released about the plot; we don’t even know what short film will be accompanying it.

They just had to move the release date of Toy Story 4 back a year to June 2018. The director of the first two Toy Story movies will be directing the fourth, and its main focus is supposed to be on Buzz and Woody. There is also a chance that Bo Peep will also be in Toy Story 4!

Finding Dory. Now, it’s only natural for this to become a movie. Just by the title, you’d think that Nemo and his dad would have to go looking for Dory as she is swimming across the ocean with no idea where she’s going. Actually, it’s completely different. Dory ends up remembering her childhood memories, so with Nemo and his dad, the three set out to find Dory’s family. They arrive at the Monterey Marine Life Institute, where they meet Bailey the beluga whale, Destiny the whale shark, and Hank the octopus, who becomes her guide to find her family.

That’s what I know about the new releases. Oh! And if you want a career or whatever at Pixar or Disney, there’s this thing called “Pixar in a Box” on this learning website called Khan Academy.      


One last thing, there will be a “Cars 3” supposedly coming out in the summer of 2017. That’s all.

 

Build Your Own Smart Watch by Wenjun Leng

London-Based Block wearables is heading to Kickstarter after 18 long months of development. The Blocks is basically just a round watch face, which owners can add additional modules to. The main module, the round watch face, features everything that you would expect in a normal smartwatch. It gives you notifications, tracks your activity, and has voice control. After that, you just add your own parts to upgrade and get different functions. Using these different modules, they will form the strap that you put on your wrist. Eventually creating a full watch.

The company announced that it will have an extra battery module, a GPS module, and even a module that will let you pay when buying something… with the watch. The Blocks company dedicated its company to watches to gaming, sports, health care, work and academic research. These watches should be available in May and $195 for the core module, or $275 for the core and four additional modules.

 

People who buy them earlier will be offered the opportunity to buy these watches for a lower price. Soon everyone will be wearing Blocks.

 

Windows Phone by Wenjun Leng

A lot of us have smartphones, whether it’s an Android, an iPhone, or maybe even a Microsoft Windows phone! At the moment right now, Apple is very popular with their iPhones. So is Android, but Windows? Not so much.

 

For computer operating systems many people use Windows, but most of our smartphones run on either iPhone or Android platforms. Windows is actually a pretty good phone company. As a Windows phone owner, I can say it’s really easy to navigate around, and it has a really cozy, and comfortable setup. With the windows phone you are able to do many things. One thing that I think that is really creative of their phones, is you can apply a photo to your apps (so your apps will all form a photo).

 

One of the huge plusses of buying a Windows phone is that you can get one for as low as $50 (Nokia Lumia 520). Also, you can get xBox games on Windows-platform phones.

 

Still, there are some downsides of Windows phones. For one, there are not a lot of apps available for the phone in the Windows Store.  Other drawbacks include it does not have a front camera, and it holds only 8GB of storage. If you want a more expensive and nicer phone, the Lumia 1520 might be for you.

Overall, if you want a high quality phone that doesn’t cost much, is reliable, and has a cozy setting, I would recommend checking out the Windows brand of phones.

 

 

Invisibility Cloak by Jack Haris

Invisibility isn’t for Harry Potter anymore. For years, scientist have been trying to make Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.  They have come up the different “sciency” methods that kids like us wouldn’t be able to understand, but now they are able to make a “cloaking” device by using simple things that most people wear. Lenses.

Scientist at Rochester University were able to create a cloaking device with only using four lenses.  They are able to use lenses to bend light waves around the object so you don’t see what’s behind it.  But the true tricky part about the experiment was having the background not change.

 

They had to determine the perfect distance between the four lenses so that the background behind the object is undisturbed.  You can also do it in all kinds of light too.  So you don’t have to bring out different frequencies to make something invisible.  But the coolest part: you can do it yourself.  Here is a step by step process for probably one of the best “April fools” jokes of all time.

  1. Purchase 2 sets of 2 lenses with different focal lengths f1 and f2 (4 lenses total, 2 with f1 focal length, and 2 with f2 focal length)

  2. Separate the first 2 lenses by the sum of their focal lengths (So f1 lens is the first lens, f2 is the 2nd lens, and they are separated byt1= f1+ f2).

  3. Do the same in Step 2 for the other two lenses.

  4. Separate the two sets by t2=2 f2 (f1+ f2) / (f1 f2) apart, so that the two f2 lenses are t2 apart.

(Step by step is from the www.rochester.edu)

 

Have Fun!!

 

http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/watch-rochester-cloak-uses-ordinary-lenses-to-hide-objects-across-continuous-range-of-angles-70592/

 

Facebook Dislike Button by Kashawn Quick

According to people on social media, Facebook could be adding a “dislike” button.  Mark Zuckerberg said in a conference that this social trend is not true and that this is a “scam”.

The scam circulating on Facebook prompts users to click to "get newly introduced Facebook dislike button” on your profile.

 

This is classic scam stuff.  Facebook wouldn't make you jump through hoops to activate a new feature. Attackers use the colors and logos of companies to make their fake sites look real. Their links may trick users into sharing personal information or downloading malware onto their machines.

Zuckerberg made it clear that the company is not using the word "dislike".  It is looking into a button that lets people show empathy in circumstances when "like" just isn't appropriate, such when a friend posts bad news.

 

 

Snapchat Update by Jodie Challis

Recently there was an update to the social media app Snapchat. Basically, when you are on the camera screen, if you tap and hold on your face a new menu comes up. What it does when you tap on your face is it gets the shape of your face. There are many options of what to do next. One of the effects that it has is you can start puking rainbows. This may seem weird, but it’s actually . . . really weird.

 

 

Most people like the update. PFMS middle-schoolers Jack and Rachel gave us their opinions on some of the updates.  Jack says, “I kind of like it because it’s cool how you can different effects.”  Rachel says, “I think it’s cool, but I don’t like how in the chat you have to hold down the messages you sent to save them. But I do like the new animation features.”

 

Although this is the main effect of the new update, there are others that people may not know about. There is also a new trophy feature. If you do certain things, like sending five pictures with five or more colors in them, you get a trophy that looks like the rainbow emoji. Also, if you go to the place you go when you want to chat with someone, then you can see what their “profile pictures” are. These pictures are a series of five pictures that play in a repeating sequence of about half a second each.  Overall, I think that the update was very clever, even if some people liked Snapchat just as it was.

 

Government Tests Tech to Find Illegal Drone Operators by Hely Parmar

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) signed an agreement to test new technology to locate drones that are flying around airports and other public places. The technology would be able to locate the radio signals from drones inside a 5-mile radius. This new technology is in response to the FAA having received around 100 reports of flying drones near airports by pilots. This technology can help officials track harm-seekers.

 

New Safety Technology Confuses Car Driver by Hely Parmar

Some new features in newer cars now include the ability for cars to automatically shift lanes if the car is drifting, or self-apply brakes to prevent an accident if the car gets too near to an object. Some vehicles are even able to park themselves.

Although these types of cars can help safety issues, people who don’t think that these highlights are useful can turn these features off. Some people could become scared if the car suddenly changes lanes, or hits the brakes. To offset this, some new cars only alert the driver to apply the brakes without actually braking automatically.

 

 

Fashion by Serenity Ashura Diaz

What is fashion? Fashion is a form of expressing yourself in your own little way.  People can tell if you are happy or sad by the clothes that you wear.  Fashion pretty much means that you have a certain style.  

Why do we wear the clothes that we wear? When your friend asks if you can you come to their swimming birthday party, you wouldn’t wear a shirt or a dress to the party- you would wear a bathing suit. Duh! When somebody says that you have no style, that means that your clothes are not on fleek. Fleek means a good thing, that the clothes that you are wearing are nice.

Fashion is a form of neatness and inspiration. It does not matter what your body type is as long as you are comfortable with what you are wearing.

Fashion is a style, whatever style works for you, just go with it and do not look back. 

iPad Pro by Hamna Ahmad

The iPad Pro is bigger, better, and cooler.  It’s incredible new features will change how you think and learn.  The camera now has a developed system that will let you take fabulous new pictures.  The iPad Pro allows you to film slow motion and time lapse film in 720p HD.   You are now able to multitask on your screen, so you can open two apps at once. There are many more other great features; however, one feature is how big the iPad is.  It has a  9.7" by 12" (inch) screen.

There are only minor negatives reviews at this time.  The price is $799. Because of the size, the company Microsoft said that the iPad Pro is not a true mobile device.

iPhone 6s Specs by Imhotep King

The new iPhone 6s has 12 megapixel  camera, 4k videos and, the new live apple photos.  The apple live photos is a nifty new feature and I see lots of people using it in the future. iPhone 6s is powered by the custom-designed 64-bit A9 chip. It delivers performance once found only in desktop computers. You’ll experience up to 70 percent faster CPU performance, and up to 90 percent faster GPU performance for all your favorite graphics-intensive games and apps. Innovation isn’t always obvious to the eye, but look a little closer at iPhone 6s and you’ll find it’s been fundamentally improved. The enclosure is made from a new alloy of 7000 Series aluminum — the same grade used in the aerospace industry. The cover glass is the strongest, most durable glass used in any smartphone. And a new rose gold finish joins space gray, silver, and gold. Even though new colors are awesome and all a new fingerprint sensor is a lot more fun. As apple quoted “Using a highly advanced fingerprint sensor that’s now faster and better than ever, Touch ID makes unlocking your phone easy and secure. And it lets you use Apple Pay at over a million stores and within participating apps.” I am excited for the new touch ID.  The new 3D touch is a cool feature but i’m not sure if it is a real need or just a random add on to make more money.  The new apple 3D touch tracks the amount of pressure you push on your screen.


 

The new and improved MacBook is an amazing new 5K display! With the new MacBook, we set out to do the impossible: engineer a full-size experience into the lightest and most compact Mac notebook ever. That meant reimagining every element to make it not only lighter and thinner but also better! The end result is more than just a new computer. It’s the future of the portable computer. Apple says “We believe that a comfortable, full-size keyboard is essential for a great notebook experience. But to fit one into the elegantly thin new MacBook, we had to completely rethink how a keyboard is engineered and constructed. To create the new keyboard, we redesigned each key and its underlying mechanism — not only making the whole keyboard much thinner, but also allowing for more comfortable, precise, and responsive typing that just feels right.”  The moment you open the new MacBook, it’s gorgeous 12‑inch Retina display with edge-to-edge glass brings everything into focus. Every photo leaps off the screen in rich, vibrant detail. Over 3 million pixels render each letter with crystal clarity. And it all comes to light on the thinnest, most energy-efficient Retina display ever on a Mac, honed to deliver a bold visual experience within an impossibly thin and exciting design.

 

iPhone 6, Is It Worth It? By Wenjun Leng

Fans all over the world have been looking forward to the iPhone 6s. But is it really worth it? Here are the tech specs on the iPhone 6 compared to the iPhone 6s:

 

    iPhone 6                     iPhone 6s

  • TouchID                      - TouchID

  • 5.44in x 2.64in x .27in                     - 5.44in x 2.64in x .28in

  • 4.55 ounces                               - 5.04 ounces

  • 4.7¨ Retina HD                   - 4.7¨ Retina HD

  • A8 chip                        - A9 chip

  • 8 megapixel camera                    - 12 megapixel camera

     - 3Dtouch

 

Overall, there aren’t any significant differences between the iPhone 6, and the iPhone 6, other than the extra $100-$200 dollars that you will spend. All Apple is bringing us is a better camera, and usually a better retina display (the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s have same retina display). In the ‘s’ or ‘speed’ versions of the iPhone they usually bring you these factors:

  • Better Camera

  • Better Display

  • secret thing

 

What is the secret thing? Well, for example, in the iPhone 4s, Apple announced Siri as the “secret thing.” In the the iPhone 5s, Apple included TouchID.  In the iPhone 6s, it's 3DTouch.

The 3DTouch doesn’t bring much except for more features when holding an app.  To see what it does click here: http://www.apple.com/iphone-6s/3d-touch/

 

Investors didn’t seem too excited about the iPhone 6s either.  Thirty days before the iPhone 6s was going to come out, Apple’s stock dropped 6.6%.  

 

So overall, Apple’s new iPhone 6s may really not be worth it.

Image URL: http://cdn2.knowyourmobile.com/sites/knowyourmobilecom/files/2015/09/iphone-6-rose-gold-005.jpg

Apple's New Car by Wenjun Leng

iPhones... we all have them right? Soon, there’s going to be something even better. Apple recently leaked a bit of information about the car that they are making. The Apple car should be coming out in the year 2019-2020. This car is code-named ‘Titan’.

The colors available to the apple car will initially we white, or aluminum. Later on, more colors will be available.

Image URL: http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/04/sharkapplecarconcept-800x600.jpg

In Bliss Book Review by Kueyoung Kim

Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood, is a baker’s story about family and baked goods filled with magic. 

Bites-sized delectable chapters filled with magic and fun, this is a lighthearted book that you must read.

Bliss is a book whose main character longs to be a magic baker like her parents, following the secretive Bliss family Cookery Booke. When her parents go away to help a nearby town and her “aunt” Lily shows up to help run things, things start to get out of hand.

 

Avengers Movie Review by Will Gustafson

Avengers: Age of Ultron is an awesome film that is better than its predecessor in many ways. For example the action and character development were better in this one. Speaking of which they humanized Hawkeye in this movie. Avengers: Age of Ultron sets up Captain America: Civil War very well by name-dropping Wakanda (Black Panther’s) home.

For those of you who don’t know Civil War is basically Captain America vs. Iron Man. Black Panther is another Marvel hero getting his own movie on July 8 2018. Now let’s talk about the new characters in this movie. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is a really cool female character in a universe which needs more. Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) her twin brother in the film is a character with a cool accent and is basically The Flash of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Vision (Paul Bettany) is an awesome character who I can’t say much about without spoiling the movie. Ultron (James Spader) is an awesome villain who is really funny.

Final score: 9/10

 

Movin' On by Helena Haynes

Good music, amazing energy, and some great artists are all things that Movin’ On 2015 had. This tour is an annual event at Penn State celebrating the end of the school year for the college students. Even though it’s mostly directed at Penn State students, anyone can come and it’s absolutely free.

This year some great music artists came to perform including Passion Pit, Big Sean, Big Gigantic, New Politics, and Atmosphere. The day started off with a Battle of the Bands which included local bands competing to perform with Atmosphere, and the night closed with Big Sean giving an incredible and very memorable performance.

It’s definitely a very fun concert to go to, but it can sometimes get a little bit out of control so in the future make sure to keep that in mind. Since it’s a free event it can get very packed especially later in the day when the more well known artists are performing. Overall, it was a concert to remember and it’s definitely something to look forward to in future years.