My Wedding

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What are the most important internet technologies for for educators to be aware of and informed about?:

-         Video and podcasting. One of the most widely adopted internet technologies for use in instructional settings is video streaming.

-         Presentation tools can be used by students for reports and presentations (from simple Powerpoint slides to multimedia timeline tools like Vivox and so on).

-         Collaboration and brainstorming tools include thought-organizing tools like mindmap and bubbl.us and collaborative tools like web based interactive white boards and Google Documents.

-         Blogs and blogging – comfortable, quick and easy internet technologies but only for users who are well aware of it.

-         Wikis allow to create free wiki web sites, also to use wikis for educational applications.

-         Social Networking. All educators should have a basic understanding of sites like Facebook and My Space and how they are used? And to be aware of the protecsional networking site LinkedFn.

-         IM aggregator site Meebo allows user to combine messaging from Aim, Yahoo, My Space, Facebook and other sites.

-         Twitter is realy focused on technologies, not specific applications.

-         Virtual Worlds is one of a number of competive technologies abd provides a “universe” dedicated to education that has been popular  with educators.

-         RSS Feeds allows users to create their own “push” data streams.

The 'Generation Gap'

This article about the "generation gap". I`m going to write about misunderstanding between parents and adolescent, the reasons of the gap and the way of gap`s overcoming. 

The young are better educated; they have more money to spend; they do not want to work and study; they didn`t want to help their parents: they do not seek responsibility; they want expansive clothes, cars, etc.without working for them; they are not so interested in important questions; avoid involvement; they have substandart appearance & shrill and resentful clothes.   

The young should not work in oder to earn money for food. They have more money to spend and more time for enjoining their freedom and they are don`t so worried & tired as their parents. But they don`t have complete freedom from care and responsibility. They ought to learn and have constant fear of examinations and school reports. And every moment they make, every thought they think is observed by some critical adult who may draw unflattering conclusion about their character. 

Parents have to choose everything for their children because adolescents have no good taste and complete-formed philosophy of life. Adults choose the clothes they children will wear, the books they will read and the friends they will play with. It seems that an adolescent does not has their own opinion, or if he does, nobody notices. Mather and father are kindly, but absolute dictators. But at the other hand, the younger generation grow up more quickly and not so dependent on their parents.        

There are many reasons of this gap. For example, parents and children belong to different generations, different surroundings; younger generation existed in a different world; they are the product of a changing civilization; they have different standards, values, idols, manner of behavior and way of living, but parents even don`t try to understand them, that`s why there is a big generation gap.

 I can propose the way of gap`s overcoming: 

1.The young should be grateful to the older generation. 

2.Don`t teach the younger generation how to live, don`t use violence to solve the problem of adolescents. 

3.The old could learn something new, for instance New High Technologies in oder to better understand their children. 

4.Old must understand that enjoyment is not "sinful".

5.The young should help their parents.          

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/travel-the-world-5329528

My mixbook is about the City of Vatican
http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/travel-the-world-5329528 

What Does Friendship Mean in My Life?

I learned a lot about friends when I got sick in 2002. I learned that a friend is someone I trust to be with me when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. And they are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with me when I am so helpless and weak. If I would trust my life with you, and vice versa, we are friends. It’s not about whether you are trustworthy, or whether you are friendly, it’s the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship. If I trust you to be truthful, then you’re a friend. If I find I must be careful how I say things, then it’s something other than friendship.
Friendship is not a state of mind, it’s an act. It’s something you do, it’s not about whether you’re good or not, it’s not a reflection of you, it’s a balanced relationship between people. That doesn’t mean it’s always balanced at every moment. Sometimes you “need a friend” and other times it’s the other way. It’s a trust that’s returned. When I was younger and thought I was in love, a friend said it’s not love unless it’s returned. Friendship and love are not quite the same thing, although there’s a lot of love around friendship. I learned that love isn’t even something about two people, it’s a state of being for one person. You aren’t in love, you are love. You are, whether you acknowledge it or not. The heart that’s pumping blood through your body is an act of love, 24 hours a day, whether you’re Mother Teresa or Adolf Hitler. (Sorry for the extreme example.)
There’s a world of difference between being a friend and being a fan. I’ve heard people who I’ve never met say we’re friends. And then of course when I do something they don’t like, I’ve betrayed the supposed friendship. They’re living in a dreamworld. The more popular my weblog has become the more people have this dream. It’s very puzzling to be the object in the middle of this swirl of emotions, I say object because my job isn’t to be truthful, my job is to be who you think I should be. Of course that’s not friendship, that’s torture.
Friendship is an in-depth, relaxed relationship!
Friends relate.
It is an in-depth relationship combining trust, support, communication, loyalty, understanding, empathy, and intimacy.
These are certainly aspects of life that all of us crave.
Being able to trust and relax with your friend is a big part of friendship.
Remember when you were young and went with a friend to her grandma's for the week-end. It was fun but when you got home, home was wonderful. Your feeling was "I'm home. I can relax now."
That's what a friendship should be.
You go out into the world and do your best. You have your ups and downs, your problems and triumphs, your fun and tribulations. You charm and you perform.
Then you come "home" to a friend. You can relax, put up your feet; you are relieved. If you still have to be charming and/or performing, it's not a relief.
Friendship is a comfy situation like home. You get home, kick off your shoes, relax and sigh, "Ahh, home."
But no one can form a friendship until he/she realizes that the basis of being friends is meeting the needs of the other person. One must be a friend to have one.
Never forget that friends relate. Relating is the basis of friendship

Valentines Day Traditions and Customs

Romantic festival of St Valentine's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm and fond regard in several countries around the world. Most commonly observed Valentine's Day tradition and custom is expressing one's love with an exchange of cards, flowers and gifts. Pampering one's beloved and making a romantic proposal to one's sweetheart is the other popular tradition of the festival that celebrates love.

There are several other Valentine's Day customs and traditions associated with festival but these vary in different countries because of the social and cultural differences. What remains the same everywhere though is celebration of love by lovers. Here we will discuss some of the most commonly observed way of celebrating St Valentine' Day.

Looking for Dates
One of the most popular customs of Valentine's Day observed worldwide is to go on a date with sweetheart. Those without a date start looking for one days before the festival. The custom originated from the popular English belief that birds chose their partners on February 14. For this reason, Valentines Day was called “the Birds' Wedding Day” in parts of Sussex.

Wishing ‘Happy Valentine's Day' to all We Love
In the beginning, Valentine's Day was associated with romantic couples only but in recent times the festival is seen in much larger perspective. Now, people take opportunity of the day to wish ‘Happy Valentine's Day' to anyone they love be it father, mother, teachers, siblings, friends, co-workers or just anyone special to them. The idea behind this tradition is to celebrate love, get love and give love to everyone around us.

Valentine's Day Custom of Exchanging Notes
One of the most commonly observed Valentine's Day customs is the exchange of love notes called ‘Valentines'. Initially people used to exchange handwritten notes but starting with the 19th century, the practice of sending hand written notes was replaced by the exchange of mass-produced greeting cards. Gradually, Valentine's Day cards came to be gifted to teachers, siblings, parents, friends and dear ones along with sweethearts. Today, Valentine's Day festival is estimated to be the biggest card-sending occasion after Christmas. Most commonly used pictures in Valentine's Greetings include images of popular Valentine's Day symbols like red roses, hearts and Cupid - the pudgy, winged son of Venus, the goddess of love. These days, there is also a tradition to club Valentine's with tiny candy hearts with affectionate messages printed on them.

Valentine's Day Tradition of Exchanging Gifts
There exists a strong tradition of indulging one's beloved with gifts of love. Some of the most popular gifts exchanged between lovers on Valentine's Day are fresh flowers - mainly roses, chocolates and teddy bears. Fine jewelry is increasingly becoming a popular St Valentine's day gift for women due to the rigorous marketing campaign by diamond industry. Candies, showpieces besides several other things are also gifted to dear ones including grandparents, parents, siblings, teachers and friends. This is because Valentine's Day is increasingly being regarded as the festival that celebrates love between two individuals and not just lovers.

An Occasion to Dine and Wine
The other most traditional way to celebrate Valentine's Day is to go for romantic candlelight dinners with one's Valentine. Many also choose to propose their dates in such a romantic setting and say the golden words, ‘I love you'. The other most emerging tradition is to participate in Valentine's Day balls and dance parties organized by various societies, clubs and restaurants. Many people also organize Valentine's Day Couple's parties in their homes where lovers have a blast in the company of friends. Those without a partner organize Valentine's Day Single's Party and have a good time dancing and playing games with other friends who are single.

Valentine's Day Celebrations in Schools
In several countries including United States and Canada there is a tradition to organize Valentine's Day classroom parties in schools. In such parties children exchange chocolates and Valentine's Day cards with their friends. British children sing special Valentine's Day song and receive candies and chocolates as reward. Senior school children usually organize Valentine's Day dance parties and have fun with friends.

Valentine poem

A Valentine is nothing like
A chocolate or a rose.
For in a week these shall be gone,
But Valentines remain.

If love were always sweet to tongue
Or fragrant to the nose,
Each day would be like Valentine's,
And we would go insane.

A Valentine just hangs around
Waiting to be kissed
Long after special days have passed
And every days are here.

So one is wise to choose one well
And chocolates to resist.
For in the midst of mania
It's nice to have one near.

Love Story

It does not matter now, she thought. Nothing does. She will close her eyes and everything will disappear. The world. The tears. The pain. That was what she hoped for, that was what she believed in, that was what she had never tried before. Because if she tried and it didn’t work, she would have nothing left to have faith in. Because if she closed her eyes and the pain were still there, she would be broken. She would be destroyed. Ruined. Quashed.

But today she was ready to take that risk. Today she wanted to stick to that little hope that everything might be if not fine, but at least okay. Today she wanted to close her eyes. So what if there was a good chance that she might be knocked down and broken into pieces. How did it matter if nobody cared? How did it matter if even she did not care?

Suddenly she noticed his picture on the table. It was an old one. She realized that she didn’t remember when it had been taken. Five years ago? Six? She didn’t know anymore. She didn’t care anymore. She didn’t want to know. Should she close the eyes now, she wondered. Let herself be drifted to the world of illusions, to the world where she remembered the pictures’ dates. Where she actually didn’t need pictures to look into his eyes. Where she just did not need any pictures. Because he would be there.

She wanted to close her eyes. She really did. She hoped to see him in the world of her fantasies. She wanted to ask so many questions. She wanted to talk. She wanted to stay silent. She wanted to feel his presence. To feel his love. To feel him. To be with him. She wanted to stay there. For good. She wanted to close her eyes and never open them. No, she didn’t want to die. She only wanted to close her eyes. She wanted to dream. To hope. To live.

It was his birthday today. It was his first birthday after that car accident. It was his first birthday after the car accident that had changed their lives. It was his first birthday after thecar accident that had killed him. It was the first birthday. Damn it! She thought. It is the first birthday.

She didn’t ask “why” anymore. The time of questions had long passed. She did not cry anymore. Not in the day at least. And she did not smile anymore. All she wanted was one simple thing - to close her eyes, to disappear, to vanish. All she wanted was to live. With him.

Should I close the eyes? She asked. Silence. Of course, who would have replied to her? She was all alone. Wrapped by the blanket of loneliness. Stuck in the darkness of grief. Losing herself in an agony of silence. She was alone. And he was alone too. Somewhere. Maybe in another world. Maybe in the same one. Love like this does not end, she thought. Not this way. Not here. Not now. It just can’t end. It is not supposed to. It can’t. But he was not there. She knew that. She just was not ready to accept it. It didn’t feel right. It was not right. It was not…

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A moment later she was smiling. He sat on the bench under an old oak tree. She sat down next to him. She didn’t say a word. Neither did he. They didn’t need words. They needed each other. And all they had to do was to close their eyes at the exact same time. And they did.

Script

I am offering you an old short story of mine - “Complicated”

“Why?” He asked.
“I don’t know… It is…” She fell silent searching for the right word.
“Complicated?” He came to help.
“Well, yes, complicated.”
“Nothing complicated here, honey. I love you, you love me, why can’t we be together?”
“I am not telling you we cannot, it is just…”
“Complicated…” He sighed.
“Right. Complicated,” she repeated trying to avoid meeting his eyes.
“What’s on your mind?” He demanded. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you really not get it?”
He was taken aback at her unexpected aggression. Never before he had seen her so furious. And yet, at the same time she looked so helpless and confused.
“Do you really not get it?” She repeated. “I had been madly in love with you all these months. I was ready to make sacrifices you would never even dream of. I could easily die for you; do anything you would ask me. I cared about you. I believed in you. I trusted you blindly.”
“But…” He tried to interrupt her but it was impossible to stop her now.
“You were everything for me. And when she had come into the scene, I couldn’t believe it was you. YOU, of all people. It was not the person I knew, not the person I loved, not the one I wanted to spend my life with. It was not you.”
“But I love you.”
“I know you do. But things changed. They are … complicated now.”
“Complicated,” He repeated.
“I love you, too. But this madness is gone, this passion is not there, the trust needs to be rebuilt. I am tired to fight alone. I don’t know what else I can give you. I have given you my heart. And if this is not enough, then… I am not enough.”
“And what will we do now?”
“I don’t know… It is…”
“Complicated,” both breathed out simultaneously.
Destiny closed the book. She didn’t know what would happen to the two in the future. She had not decided on them yet. Once trust is broken you can never look at it the same way anymore. But maybe these two would stand another chance.
Destiny didn’t know. She would think about it tomorrow and then write a new chapter in the Book of Fortune. The chapter that would be a little bit complicated to write because it is always difficult to give people second chances…
More from Tuesday Love Ramblings you can read by clicking here. 

10 Internet Technologies that Educators Should Be Informed about

There are so many different tools and technologies available on the internet today, and so many associated terms and concepts. As I think about topics to focus on here , I want to make sure I am touching on the most important ones. What are the most important internet technologies for educators to be aware of, and informed about?
1. Video and Podcasting - One of the most widely adopted internet technologies for use in instructional settings is video streaming. Between YouTube, TeacherTube, EduTube, and many other video hosting sites, there are an abundance of lectures, how-to videos, and supporting materials available in the form of web based video. Podcasting has also been used to provide similar offerings of audio materials through popular sites like iTunes. [Click here to learn more about video hosting for education, or here to learn more about podcasting for education.]

2. Presentation Tools - This category is vast and rich. There are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of tools on the Internet that can be used to create and share presentations, from simple Powerpoint slide players like Slideshare to multimedia timeline tools like Vuvox and OneTrueMedia. These tools can be used to support classroom teaching or distance learning, or for student reports and presentations.

3. Collaboration & Brainstorming Tools - This is another wide ranging category, including thought-organizing tools like mindmap and bubbl.us, and collaborative tools like web based interactive whiteboards and Google Documents. Additionally, some of the other tools in this list, such as wikis and virtual worlds, also serve as collaboration tools.

4. Blogs & Blogging – Bloggers and many other regular Internet users are well aware of blogs and blogging, but there are many other professionals who really are not frequenters of the “blogosphere”. In addition to a basic familiarity with this technology, educators should be aware of sites like Blogger and WordPress, where users can quickly and easily create their own blogs for free.

5. Wikis – The use of Wikis in educational settings is growing every day. Sites like Wetpaint and others allow users to create free wiki web sites and are a great way to get started with using wikis for educational applications. [Click here to learn more about the use of Wikis in education].

6. Social Networking – All educators should have a basic understanding of sites like Facebook and MySpace and how they are used. This doesn’t mean they need accounts on these sites (and many educators would recommend against using these sites to communicate with their students), but they should understand what they are and how they are being used. Educators should also be aware of the professional social networking site LinkedIn.

7. IM – A large percentage of students use IM regularly, via Aim, IM aggregator site Meebo (Meebo allows users to combine messaging from Aim, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, and other sites), or other tools. It behooves educators to be aware of this.

8. Twitter – This listing is really focused on technologies, not specific applications, but this application is currently just too popular to ignore. You should at least understand what it is and the fundamentals of how it is used. [Click here for some insight into how Twitter can be used in education.]

9. Virtual Worlds – This technology has received a lot of press, with SecondLife being the clear leader thus far in this application area. In my experience, the use of SecondLife has been somewhat constrained by high bandwidth and processing power requirements, but this also means that there is still considerable room for increased adoption of the application as systems continue to become more powerful and higher speed bandwidth more prevalant. Active Worlds is one of a number of competitive technologies, and provides a “universe” dedicated to education that has been popular with educators.

10. RSS Feeds - RSS allows users to create their own “push” data streams (that is, define data flows you want coming to you automatically, rather than having to go and “pull” the information with a Google search or other browsing effort). RSS feeds enable you to take advantage of streams of published content that will be sitting in your In Box, or in an RSS reader, when you want them. There are RSS feeds available for many topics and many web sites.

While many readers may have their own interpretation of which technologies are essential for educators to be aware of, I think this is a great list to get started with.