Another video?? Well this will be the last one for today. This is about Link and his little brother, this uses the Wind Waker cartoony style which is really cool. You know how when you use the Wii, whatever you do happens on the screen(usually). So Link’s little sister fishes up a Wii-mote, and she thinks it’s a sword. Then when she played around with it, whatever she did happened to Link!! This one is funny, if you understand Wii and Zelda stuff.

I think most of you have seen this, but I just want to post it here!

This is really cool. Even though this is an animation, creating this would be almost possible!! Enjoy!!

WARNING: Spoiler

Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett, is an upbeat story full of codes, paintings, secrets and lies making it a great read. The book circles around a famous painting known as “A Lady Writing” by Johannes Vermeer(This is an actual painting). The book is similar to the famous, The Da Vinci Code in many ways. It has the art and mystery in it, a modern setting but historical background, and an unexpecting plot. It doesn’t have the controversy of “The Last Supper” or the Christian Holy Grail, but it has just as much excitement and puzzles. So it’s perfect for anyone who wants a good intense read.

In addition to the text, the illustrations by Brett Helquist were just as mysterious and interesting. Even in some of the illustrations there were codes with frogs (the number of them) and pentominoes (A mathematical tool which consists of 12 pieces and each represents a different letter). They were great, but the code was not obvious and can be frustrating. Our group spent quite some time trying to figure out it, but we did not succeed until Ari and I looked it up on the internet.

The book contains all of the mystery elements: characters, a setting, clues, red herrings, a plot and a conclusion. Petra is the main character along side with Calder, they work together to try and save the Vermeer painting, “A Lady Writing”. They were well composed and very believable. The villain was Xavier Glitts, he is the one who started all the commotion over Vermeer. At first, he seems okay, stating that he stole the painting for a good reason. Later he gets angrier and threatens to destroy the painting. The book’s victim is not a human but the Vermeer painting itself.

The setting is a town in Chicago, Illinois. It is very typical, with a high school, a middle school, a book store, a post office and friendly neighborhoods. The book begins with only a few odd events happening, normal for everyday life, and then all of sudden Calder and Petra got pulled into the action.

The book had a very complicated plot, with a lot of high points and low points. There were so many different little problems, but none of them were solved until the very end. The book was very unpredictable. When I tried to predict something, it almost always seemed to go the other way, giving me the urge to finish.

Many of the clues and red herrings became distracting and unclear, so I had to reread in order to fully understand. Such as Tommy’s letters (Calder’s friend), the disappearance of his friend Frog, or all the strange coincidences.

The conclusion was a little disappointing, it was the most predicable, but satisfying. They found the painting, the criminal dies and everyone is happy. Something more interesting could have happened, such as if the criminal didn’t die and tried to steal another painting. There is a sequel called The Wright 3, I’m planning to read it to see what happens next. Since Balliett is a very unexpecting person, anything could happen.

Overall, Chasing Vermeer is a fantastic book just like The Da Vinci Code. Watch out for the red herrings and read slowly to try and comprehend better. I recommend this book, I would give it an 8 out of 10.

Today I went to see Eragon with my friends at a birthday party.
This was the worst movie adaptation to any book. The movie cut off so many things from the book, such as naming Saphira, and the traders trying to smash the egg/stone. After reading the book this show was very disappointing. Maybe if you didn’t read the book then it might have been good movie.
One of the worst things about the movie was the characters. Arya was supposed to have green eyes, black hair, and pointy ears (since she was an elf), but she looked perfectly human!
Durza was even worse, he looked like a old man who needed chapstick badly (and Vaseline while you you’re at it!) Saphira was a little disappointing but not as bad, she sort of looked like a bird, her voice was really strange and she aged too quickly. In the book they said that she grew a few feet every day but not from a baby to a full dragon in a mere few seconds in the clouds!!
The graphics and visual effects were actually pretty impressive, the magic, shade guy, and monsters. If you aren’t into “Happy Feet”, 007, or Escape Clause, you could maybe watch it, but if you do, try to keep your own impressions of the characters, and not the movie’s interpretation!

Note: This article is written by “alertnet.org” and not any members of the Funknowledge Blog. You may visit their web site at: alertnet.org. We have given them proper credit

I’m doing a research project on Swaziland and I saw this artice on Alertnet.org. So I decided to share it with you. I know it is past World AIDS Day but it’s a “current event” so I don’t have to do it on that day.

MBABANE, 5 December (IRIN) – The Swazi government expressed cautious optimism after a survey found that 39.2 percent of women visiting antenatal clinics tested positive for HIV, indicating that the infection rate was dropping.
Medical data from pregnant women is used as a barometer of HIV/AIDS prevalence among the country’s about one million people and although the figure was above the 38.6 percent recorded in 2002, it was down from the 42.6 percent reached in 2004.
The Sero-Surveillance Survey, conducted every two years, has charted the rise of the disease that now infects a third of the sexually active population aged between 15 and 49. It began in 1992 and in its first year found HIV prevalence of 4 percent among pregnant women.
Prime Minister Themba Dlamini presented the new figures on 1 December, World AIDS Day, to the country that now records the highest percentage of infection in the world, making the disease an uncomfortable international issue. Government spokesman Percy Simelane has disputed the relevance of earlier antenatal surveys, saying it was the government’s position that because only sexually active women were included in the survey, the results were not representative.
Countries worldwide use the Sero-Surveillance Survey as a statistical basis for measuring the presence of HIV/AIDS, but Swaziland’s health workers believe a more accurate picture will be provided by a Demographic Health Study (DHS).
The study, now being conducted by UNAIDS and the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), uses a research base that randomly selects Swazi households and then conducts face-to-face interviews and voluntary, anonymous blood tests of household members.
“The true prevalence rate for the country will probably lie above the DHS but below the Sero-Surveillance study of pregnant women,” said Patti Whitely, of UNAIDS in Swaziland, which put the national HIV infection rate among those between the ages of 15 and 49 at an estimated 33.4 percent in 2005.
Of the 2,467 pregnant women aged 15 to 49 who participated in the 2006 Sero-Surveillance Study, 966 tested positive for HIV.
The decline in HIV infections was recorded in urban and rural areas in all four regions of Swaziland and in all age groups, with the sharpest reduction occurring among those aged 25 to 29 years, from 56 percent in 2004 to 48 percent in 2006.
People aged 15 to 24, considered one of the age brackets most vulnerable to new infections, saw the prevalence rate fall from 39.4 percent in 2004 to 34.8 percent in 2006, a reduction the Ministry of Health described as significant.
“We are cautiously optimistic that this decline demonstrates that our prevention strategies are beginning to take hold,” NERCHA director Derek von Wissell said. “We need to step up our fight against this disease and push even harder to continue the prevalence rate decline.”
The survey found that pregnant girls in the age bracket from 15 to 19 years experienced a drop in HIV infections from 29.3 percent to 26 percent between 2004 and 2006.
In his World AIDS Day statement the prime minister stressed caution in assuming that the corner had been turned in the fight against new infections. “This is not time to celebrate and relax. We must now renew our vigour and intensify our efforts to bring this disease to an end in the country.”
However, a spokesperson for the Swaziland AIDS Support Organisation (SASO), the country’s first support group for people living with HIV and AIDS, disputed the new figures. “We do not believe that HIV in this country has decreased because the behaviour has not changed one bit.”

Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7c89a993eb3ee7ee7fdc234956df5a36.htm

Yesterday, James Kim, 35, my favorite editor at Cnet, died from exposure to the cold and hypothermia in the wilderness of Oregon. He was a respected expert on cutting-edge digital devices, an owner of a trendy clothing store and a lover of the futuristic-sounding music known as electronica. Kim was raising a family and holding down a full-time job as a product reviewer for CNET, while operating two retail stores with his wife and working on a book for McGraw-Hill about Microsoft’s new digital-music player, the Zune.

While trying to help his family he traveled 10.24 miles in search of help. They missed a turn and found themselves stranded in snow and lost on one of Oregon’s treacherous mountain roads an area that is rarely plowed during the winter. When the car ran out of gas they tried to stay alive. Kim traveled in a 10-mile circle in search for help and was found less than a mile, separated by a sheer cliff, from where his family’s station wagon got stuck in the snow.

When both James and Kati failed to show up for appointments on November 28, co-workers began to worry for their safety. James sacrificed his own life, to save his wife and two daughter’s lives. He made a brave decision. Thank you James for what you have brought us and may you rest in peace.

Read more: http://news.com.com/James+Kim+found+deceased/2100-1028_3-6141498.html

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/07/missing.family/index.html?eref=rss_topstories