Entry #6 Legendary Spartans

Have you heard of the Spartans? Throughout the world, the stories of the legendary Spartans and their culture continue to be told from generation to generation. Their legacy is well known and respected throughout the world. Men of war look up to their military strategies. Others look down upon their way of living. Either way, the Spartans are famous across the land for many reasons.

Here is an image of a Spartan warrior from a movie called 300. This is how Spartans looked as warriors.

Spartans at Their Finest

Spartans are famous for their way of living. They had one of the strongest armies found in Europe. They challenged the Persians who outnumbered them 10-1 and yet they managed to live out numerous days. The way the Spartans fought was with a shield wall that couldn't be easily penetrated. Every warrior was whole with the entire unit. No matter how many Persians came at the Spartan army, the wall would not collapse. The warriors were taught to move as one and fight as one, that way no army could take them down. The only reason why the Spartans lost to the Persians is because they got surrounded. If they hadn't gotten surrounded, the Spartans would have won that war.

Here is a visual of how the shield wall looked. This tactic was efficient and was proven when the Spartans took on the enormous Persian Army.

With a superior army comes with great costs. In the Spartan lifestyle, only the strongest of men and women were allowed to live. If a boy or girl didn't meet the requirements of being a Spartan, then they were killed. Boys were separated from their mothers at an early age for military training. Only strong and capable boys made it through training. The others died within the process of training. It was survival of the fittest in the Spartans' eyes. In order to create a strong society, only strong and capable people were allowed in it.

This Spartan boy is in the process of being separated from his mother and on his way to military training. While this is a harsh lifestyle for our age, back then it was for war and city defense preparations.

The Judgement of Spartans

People in our current society believe the Spartans to be cruel and evil. The idea of killing off unwilling children is bad in today's world. This is true, but some of their lifestyle can be seen used today. Military leaders still use tactics that were created from Spartans to help win certain battles. Regular people are sometimes influenced by the Spartans. For instance, athletes today try to do their best potential just like the Spartans did for military training. The Spartans were strong and athletic, which is what some people today try to become. In general, while the Spartans lived a cruel lifestyle, people still look up to them in numerous ways, whether they be for physical or mental strength.

Entry #5 Sight Into The Future

My Own Personal Reaction

After watching a clip from the movie Wall-E, I felt disappointed and terrified. I was disappointed at the fact of how lazy humans had become and how dependent they were on technology. They couldn't even walk or stand upright. In the beginning part of the clip, a blonde man fell off his chair and couldn't get up. Without Wall-E's help, the man wouldn't have been able to get back into his chair due to his obesity. I also felt terrified at the fact that this clip could resemble our world in the future. Technology is prospering in our world today and is continuing to grow. The possibility of our world becoming the one seen in the clip is true, which is scary. I myself wouldn't want to live in a world where people couldn't walk or keep themselves glued to a monitor. 

Here is an image of the man saved by Wall-E. I feel terrified and disgusted at the sight of him being physically handicapped by obesity. 

Scary future

The fact that the life seen in the clip from Wall-E can become our future is terrifyingly acknowledged and can be proven. Today, people have become more obese due to processed foods and beverages that are unhealthy for consumption. The numbers of obese people are continuing to grow due to the sales of unhealthy items, such as candy and soda. People can get addicted to the taste of sugar and continue to consume large quantities of foods and drinks that contain sugar in them. Too much sugar leads to obesity.

Another factor of this becoming our future is that no one exercises as much anymore. People like to sit around and do nothing in our modern world with the introduction to technology. People can drive cars to travel instead of walking or running to destinations. Technology also prevents people from having to go around to talk to people. Cell phones and laptops allow people to communicate with each other without having to move. Overall, technology can make people not have to move to get to places or do certain things.

Here is an example from the clip that shows how humans in the film depended on technology to do certain things. In this case communicate with one another and to watch other people.

Last Words of the Truth

The clip from Wall-E does contain commentary that is relevant to our society. The part where the man asks Wall-E too take his drink can be seen in our day and age. People seem to rely on others to do work for them, like throw away garbage. Instead of doing it themselves, people rely on others to do their dirty work. In conclusion, this clip from Wall-E shows people how the world can change to be like the one seen in Wall-E's world.

Entry #4 The Best of Bears

Have you ever wondered about bears? Their purpose in life? What they do? Bears are often seen as nuisances and trouble-makers in people's eyes today. People often see them as large, furry animals that do nothing but eat fish and sleep during the winter. Well these accusations are all false. Bears are much more than what people expect.

Bears At Their Finest

Bears have multiple purposes in life. One of them is to help keep the balance of the environment. Bears are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals, not just fish. Some of these foods include berries, carrion, deer, honey, shrubs, grasses, moose, salmon, and other plants and animals within their environment. Since bears eat both vegetation and animals, they help keep their populations from being too high. If bears didn't exist, carnivores and herbivores within their homeland would have to work harder to keep a natural balance of populations. 

These two photographs reveal that bears eat both meats and plants to survive. The upper photo shows a bear catching a trout for food. The bottom photo shows a bear eating berries, one of a bear's favorite foods.

Bears also keep predators at bay as far as population goes. Animals compete for food so that they can survive. Survival of the fittest. Bears are the largest carnivore within their territory, so whatever other carnivore is within the area, they have a tough competition. Wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, badgers, and wolverines are several of the carnivores that have to compete with bears for food. These competitions can be fatal. For example, if a bear brawls with a single coyote, the coyote could possibly die. That's how bears keep a balance between other predators.

This is a great visual of competition seen in the wild. Bears and wolves fight one another over food or territorial space.

Overall Picture

People may think bears are large, lumbering giants, but they are more than that. Bears keep wild environments balanced and at bay. If it weren't for bears, many plant and animal species might have population problems. Herbivores and carnivores would overpopulate, which would, in effect, wipe out plant species. Overall, bears are stabilizers of the environment and the plants and animals that live in them, not pointless, fish-eating giants.

Entry #3 Cell Phones Today

Cell Phones in Current Society

Just recently, I was browsing the web in search of some interesting knowledge. I came across a very intriguing article that showed information on cell phones and their usage in today's society. It revealed interesting facts and ideas about how the online world used to be compared to now. Here is the link.

The author of the article, Aaron Smith, described how most people think of "going online" being a laptop or computer term. However, today people can say it is a smartphone term as well. I myself think that "going online" can be used for both computers and smartphones since both are popular in today's society. Smith even stated in his article that, "[nearly] two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, and for many these devices are a key entry point to the online world". That's quite a large amount of people. This shows that more and more people are turning to smartphones as our society prospers. 

The article also shows how dependent people are towards smartphones. Several graphs and percentages are shown to help reveal how dependent certain groups of people are to them. For instance, it reveals, "15% of Americans ages 18-29 are heavily dependent on a smartphone for online access". When I was younger, computers usually were depended on for online usage, but now it seems that smartphones are taking their place.

This graph is from the same article that Aaron Smith wrote. This shows how some people believe their phone is dependable or not. It also shows if they are beneficial or not.

How Useful Aaron Smith's Article Can Be

I feel that this article can be useful in a great amount of ways. First, it gives us a great visual on how smartphones are changing today's society. People went from using computers for online purposes to using a cell phone instead. Prosperity in cell phones is showing to be a replacement for computers because of their mobility. This article also can help people reflect on how they are compared to the rest of society. Since the article has visuals and graphs about people around the world and their cell phones, other people can see where they lay with the rest of society, whether it be good or bad. I myself found out that I'm both dependent and independent with my cell phone, making myself neutral in society's eyes. Lastly, it can help persuade us to use our cell phones more often. After looking at some of the statistics within the article, I found myself wanting to explore my phone more. The statistics show that smartphones are more of a benefit than a burden, plus that they contain useful items and knowledge.

The Way I See It

Overall, the article U.S Smartphone Use in 2015 by Aaron Smith is both interesting and helpful. If people looked at this article, they can get a better understanding of how smartphones are beneficial to our society. I myself have gotten a better view on how smartphones are useful for our prospering society. This article can be beneficial for all.

Entry # 2 Archery is a Lifestyle

Intro to Archery

Archery is a sport/hobby that has existed for centuries. Prehistoric humans used this as a method of hunting for survival in the vast wildernesses in the world. It was an upgrade from using spears to hunt animals. It provided range for the hunters so that way they didn't have to be real up close and personal to their prey, which consisted of large deer and other large mammals. While it wasn't was effective as the guns used today, it provided a turning point to the lifestyle of hunting, allowing hunters to hunt with distance between them and their targets. Even today archery is still used for the same purpose, but with some changes.

Here is a prime example of prehistoric bow hunting.

Archery Today

Archery has taken to a different meaning to current lifestyles. Instead of just being used for hunting strictly, now it is used as a type of competitive sport. Men and women across the world now train to become the best archers across the globe. I myself used to compete to become one of the best, but sadly I had to stop for certain personal reasons. These men and women take archery as a life of competing instead of survival. Thousands of archers compete across the world in different types of competitions. Some of these include Fita Field, Olympic, 3D Target, and Indoor Archery. Each of these consists of different targets in which have scoring rings, which can be similar to darts, that give out a certain amount of points. These tournaments can also reward archers with titles and even money depending on the type of tournament it is. Archery competitions are popular today and are continuing to grow due to people's interest in it. Who would want to try and become the next Robin Hood?

 This is the type of target you would see at a 3D Target Tournament. They are to resemble animals and have scoring rings where the animals vital organs would be. Hunters also use these targets as practice for the hunting season.

Indoor Target Archery consists of these targets. Each ring has its own score and an arrow shot within a ring gets that score. For instance, if an archer shoots three arrows in the dead center of the target, they earn the score of 30. This is because the middle ring is worth 10 points for each arrow in it.

Here I am competing at an archery tournament. It was a 3D Archery tournament in Arizona.

Bow Hunting Today

Archery is still used today to hunt. With the advancement of technology, bows and arrows have become stronger and more powerful for hunting. Bows of old were made from long planks of wood and arrows were made from sticks and rocks. Now they are made of carbon fiber and metals of all sorts. Compound bows are the strongest type of bows out today. They can have the pull weight of 90-100 pounds. Now that is quite an amount of weight. Most hunters used 60-70 pounds of draw weight for most big game, like elk and bears. Arrows are also made to kill, with the broadheads on the end being made to penetrate an animals hide. Broadheads are basically a small spearhead, but can do the same amount of damage. There are numerous hunters across the world that use these industrialized bows and arrows. Others use the traditional bows and arrows. All in the same sense, bow hunting is still used by numerous people today.

Here is a prime look at a modern day hunter. 

This is a type of compound bow made today from an archery company called Hoyt. It has all the attachments and characteristics of a hunting bow.

Archery for Everyone

This sport is for men and women of all ages. You can be 10 years old to 80 years old and compete in archery tournaments or hunt even. I highly encourage others to participate in this sport or at least give it a shot. If it has stayed around for centuries, why not try it out? It is a great activity to partake in and enjoy. Hopefully the knowledge and background information on archery helps you decide to take part in this unique sport.

Entry #1 Opinion on Blogs

Blogs? What are they?

Throughout my life I have always heard of blogs but never knew what they truly were until recently. They seen to be great in some ways but not so much in others. I always thought blogs were just for people who wanted to update information on their current life information for their family and friends. Now I see that they are much more than that.

Influences from Blogs

After reading a variety of blogs, I can truly understand their multiple purposes, unlike when I was unaware of their existence and purpose. For instance, the Official Google Blog showed me the informational purposes of blogs, as seen here. It provides current news and events that have occurred in an organized fashion. Not to mention it also has a search bar to help narrow down what type of blog you wish to read. Unfortunately, the search bar is the only tool on the website that narrows down the search. No tabs or anything else are used. The design of the blog can also use some tuning. It seems too bland even for an informational blog. Overall, the Official Google Blog is a great informational blog, but could use some tuning to make it effective. Blogs like this help inform me of news, but there are others that do better work.

A good blog that has both an interesting background with great information is called the American Blog. It has multiple tabs to narrow your search down to what you wish to see and has a search bar as well. To me, the more tabs to different topics, the better you can find things to read and understand. It even organizes it to where you must click on the entries to read it fully instead of all the information on the blog entry being laid out on one page, which can be located here. This blog is a great example of which blogs I truly love to read. They keep me informed and catch my attention, unlike some other blogs.

One particular type of blog I believe needs to be improved on the most is the personal blogs. I just can't stand the idea of posting something that can be viewed by everyone only make sense to certain individuals. I mean its great that people are keeping their families and friends up to date with their work, but I would wish for them to only be seen by them, not the entire community that wouldn't understand certain things. An example of this is seen in the blog site named Vivi's Random Ramblings. The blogger seems to post many personal entries on her blog that make me lose interest. Not to mention the vocabulary used. Words like "hubby" just make me feel weird considering I don't like that type of vocabulary. I can handle a few nicknames, but others seem to personal. This blog also has random topics, thus coming from its name. It can be talking about family one moment, then vacation days the next. If I actually knew the person it may not seem that bad, but since I don't, its makes things uncertain. This blog site is nice for her friends and family, but not so to a random person searching on the internet. Don't get me wrong, personal blogs are nice, if you are acquainted with the person.

Blogs to Me

Based of of these blogs, I can conclude that blogs are seen differently in my perspective than that of others. While I don't necessarily like personal blogs, others love them to death. I like to look at informational blogs to gather information, but others ignore them for their unexciting theme. In general, I like the idea of blogs. They are a great way to communicate and send out ideas across the web, whether it be personal or for business. They are great for families, friends, businessmen and women, and all other sorts of people who just want to give information out.

Entry #1 Getting to Know James

Who I Am

Hello, my name is James Rutherford. I'm 18 years old and a freshman at Glendale Community College and I'm going to share some information about myself.

I wish this taken in a more, professional matter. But its me either way.
Where I'm From

I'm from Robinsdale, Minnesota. It's pretty much a suburb off of Minneapolis. I lived there for a little part of my childhood then moved to Glendale, Arizona when I started elementary school. I miss Minnesota for its winters, but Arizona's winters are also nice.

Personal Interests

I like the outdoors and almost all the animals that live in them. I hate skunks though, too many of them in Minnesota and had bad experiences with them. I like to travel across the United States and see the sights there are to see, like Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. I also like to study animals and their behaviors on my spare time. I'm hoping to make it a career once I'm finished with college.

Hobbies

Some hobbies I'm interested in are hiking, hunting, and fishing. I also used to compete in archery a couple years back. I was pretty good at it as well. I competed in state championships and even ranked in a world archery tournament. Those were the good years. Click here to see the results of an archery tournament that happened a few years ago. I hope to return to archery in the near future. I also used to play competitive football for Apollo High School. Played there for three years, then I graduated from high school. I miss football as well. I don't think I will play football competitively in the future unless i either lose an amount of weight or grow taller. I don't think there is a football team that would want a 5 foot 11 inch tall lineman that weighs 220. I don't mind not playing though, the memories will stick with me for ages. Here are some pictures of me doing past hobbies.

 This is when I played Junior Varsity football for my sophomore year of high school. I would go to war with any other football team with these guys. They are my second family.

 My senior year football team. My second family at its finest. I'm number 66 at the top row on the right.

This a photo taken of me when I competed in a state championship here in Arizona.

Personal Goals

My goals in life are to get my dream career job as a wildlife manager in the Game and Fish Department. I have always wanted to be this ever since I was a young boy. Another goal of mine is to get in better shape. I have been slacking lately on the exercise and I need to get back into the flow of exercising again. Other than that I hope to life a long and prosperous life with a happy and calm attitude no matter what happens.

Uniqueness

Something unique about me is my way of learning and socializing. I learn by hearing and I don't really talk as much as others. For instance I don't usually start conversations, but instead further enhance the ones started. In class I don't speak out much but show great listening skills. Another thing unique about me is my archery skills. I have superb archery skills which at a time were so great that I would challenge my own archery coach, and even win sometimes. I could hit a starburst on a string when my coach was teaching me a lesson about aiming small to miss small. That was awhile back but I still think I have the archery skills in me.

Closure 

That's all there is to know about me. Hopefully you enjoyed this entry and the entries to come.