Horray! No more written portion on Alberta Diploma Math and Sciences (Chemistry, Physics and Biology) exams that account for 50% of a student’s final grade in that course and on top of that, are supposedly designed to test student’s full understanding of the contents of those courses. This recent change occured without any consultation from teachers.  It will save the government approximately $1.5 million of the $12 million that it’s currently costing them.

On top of that, new changes to the province’s math curriculum will be focusing more on the process of how to get to the answer than the actual answer itself.

Furthermore, the government still deems it necessary to weigh a 2 hour examination’s mark equal to the amount of work that a student does in 4 months.  Finally, despite much discontent from students, parents and teachers, the government does not seem to be planning on making any changes to this new format.

If you want to get involved and learn more, check out Real Learning First that discusses student testing in Alberta.

I wish everyone who is taking their Alberta Diploma Exams this year good luck!

Metric is coming to town!

Metric will be coming to Calgary on October 30th at the Big Four Building by Stampede Park. The concert will be held at 8:00pm that night. Tickets are sold for at $36.50 and it’ll be worth every cent of it!

For those who are unfamiliar with Metric, Metric is a Canadian Indie Rock/Pop band formed in Toronto in 1998. They have released four albums to date and have gained popularity fast. Their newest album, Fantasies, peaked at #6 on Canadian Album Chart featuring songs such as “Help, I’m Alive“, “Gimme Sympathy” and “Sick Muse“.

Here’s “Gimme Sympathy” by Metric. You can check out more of their music on Myspace! Enjoy!

[youtube LqldwoDXHKg]

The second movie on my list is Zombie Land:

Two men have found a way to survive a zombie apocalypse. Columbus is a big wuss (fear can keep you alive), while Tallahassee is a zombie-slayer whose determined to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, sisters who have also managed survive the zombie mayhem; they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

This look like a laugh out loud horror film, I heard it’s extremely gory and I can’t wait to see it.

If you ever seen Star Wars or similar type of science fiction movies or TV series, you would be familiar with the idea of holograms. A hologram is what makes 3-D communication real. You’re no longer talking to just voices, or voices with videos, you would be communicating and interacting with a 3 dimensional projected image of your caller on the other side. With no further a-do, check out this video explaining how the latest technology – the hologram “beam” system used by world class news report centre, CNN:

Alright, all these teleport-style-like news report is pretty cool? How is this useful?

These are basically the few possible spin-off products of this hologram technology:
1. 3D television and entertainment systems – How cool is it to watch shows and TV in 3D? and see your favorite character or person from literally every angle?
2. 3D reality gaming – Who says Wii is active gaming? 3D reality gaming will make the Wii gaming system look like the primitive tool used by cave men.
3. 3D holographic communication – Why go meet someone when you can bring them to you?

I know what you are thinking. How does hologram actually work? I will tell you how, and present you with the cool science fiction technology behind the hologram in a nut shell.

The Calgary Flames are off to a red-hot start this season! It might be too early in the season to tell, but one must wonder if this year will be another memorable playoff run, like the unforgettable 2004 season.

The Flames have won 5 out of 8 games, and sit tied for 1st in the Northwest Division with Colorado.

So get out your car flags and jerseys once again Calgary! Because this year the Flames are smoking hot, and if they continue like this the full season, we may be sitting in a very comfortable position come playoff time.

Tune in on Tuesday as the Flames play the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are just 2 places below the Flames. This should be interesting!

Any of you heard of Screamfest?! The scariest haunted house in Calgary is now officially open!!

Screamfest is being held at Canada Olympic Park, and includes 5 scary haunted houses, games, and entertainment! For just 15 dollars (20 on Fridays and Saturdays), you get to go to all 5 houses, free entertainment, and 3-D glasses!

This crazy fun event is happening only select days every week until Halloween, so make sure you visit the website for details! Go through and read everything, they’ve made the website hilarious just for us!

And don’t forget to bring a friend or two, it’s better to get eaten by zombies together than alone!!

Maybe we don’t have enough snow for back country adventures yet, but it’s always great to know where you can find important information about how ‘cool’ and dangerous snow can  be. First, I’m going to scare you a bit: take a look at these statistics from the Canadian Avalanche Centre.

“There are approximately 150 avalanche fatalities reported every year by the 17 countries that are members of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR). In the past 30 years, from 1978 to 2007, an average of 11 avalanche fatalities have occurred per year in Canada. This has increased to an average of 14 avalanche fatalities per year in the ten year period, from 1998 to 2007.”

Now you can’t say nobody told you, because I just did. However, none of this means you can’t still enjoy the thrill of the snow.  There are many ways to keep yourself protected, such as being aware, knowing the conditions and snow, make sure before you take off somebody always knows where you are going, when you left and planned on being back and don’t forget to register with park staff because failure to return by the time and date shown on the registration card will initiate a search-and-rescue operation. Now if you’re not a big reader, check out this really short video and find much more videos and information at Behind The Lines.

That’s right, Lights is coming to Calgary! I am psyched.  😀

On November 12th, she will be performing at MacEwan Ballroom at 8:00pm. As far as I know, tickets are still available via Ticketmaster or Live Nation—and they’re only $20 apiece! (But please note that this is without service charges and whatnot.)

So anyways, in case you don’t know who Lights is, here’s a little bit about her:
Lights, or Valerie Poxleitner, is a Canadian singer and song writer known for performance (and composition) of synthpop. She won the 2009 Juno Award for New Artist of the Year and some of her singles include Drive My Soul, February Air, Ice, and Saviour. I’m sure you’ve all heard one or the other on the radio at one point or another. In case you haven’t, check out February Air below! (I also recommend Ice; the video for it was made by Lights herself and released via her MySpace.)

[youtube QrXM98KtCv0]

Now, just in case you don’t get a chance to go see her in concert this time around, Lights will be on tour with Owl City in January and February of 2010! (Wondering who Owl City is? Check back on Tuesday the 20th for a blog about them!)

Some things have really strange names. For that matter, so do some people. Or bands. Or…well, you get the picture. If you think that you’re a pro at deciphering what something is just from its moniker, head on over to mental_floss and try out one of these “lunchtime quizzes”:

–Discontinued Ben and Jerry’s Flavour or a Band I Found On MySpace?

– Harry Potter Character or Hideous Skin Disease?

–Super Mario Bros. Villain or Obscure Dinosaur?                            

–Medieval Torture Device or Bed Bath and Beyond Gadget?

–Ben and Jerry’s Flavour or Pottery Barn Paint Colour?

–Actual SkyMall Product or Rejected Invention Patent?

–Celebrity Baby Name or Computer Virus?

–Skin Disease or Dungeons and Dragons Character?

Were you taught that the movement of land mass of lithosphere on earth is due to moving tectonic plates? Well, the tectonic plates theory propose that there are eight major plates and many minor plates and these plates move in three basic ways: Divergent, Convergent and Transforming. Divergent boundaries is the expansion between plates, convergent boundaries is the collision between plates, and transform boundaries is the sliding between plates. The result of today’s landscape is explained by the continental drift theory with tectonic plates theory.

However, theory of expanding earth suggests that the earth is actually expanding. See video below, it’s quite self explainatory:

Why would this theory be popular?

There are various forms of the expanding earth hypothesis including some proposals which say that the Earth’s mass has remained constant (and thus the gravitational pull at the surface has decreased over time), that Earth’s mass has grown with the volume in such a way that the surface gravity has remained constant, or that the gravitational constant of the universe has changed over time (a hypothesis used to explain how the mass and gravitational pull of the earth could remain constant during growth). Many of the remaining expanding Earth adherents are proponents of the ideas of the late Australian geologist S. Warren Carey, whose ideas were popular for a time in the 1950s and 60s.

Why is this theory discredited by many scientists?

 I was planning book talk the Gone series today….But since the books are thicker than the Bible, I am a bit behind schedule. So instead, I’m going to talk about a movie that’s based on a book. The movie is not yet in theaters.

  The movie is called The Vampire’s Assistant and it talks about a teen that turns into a vampire. Most people would say that they movie is copying The Twilight Saga. Those people are wrong; The Vampire’s Assistant is book two of the Darren Shan saga, it was written by Darren Shan the same author of the Demonata series. In fact, the Darren Shan saga was written before the Demonata novels and way before the first book of Twilight.

The Vampire’s Assistant is not as dark as the Demonata novels, and deals with a teenager who makes a deal with a vampire and turns into a half vampire (a vampire’s assistant) in order to save his friend.   

This is a much more child-friendly novel than the Demonata novels and I just hope that the movie is as good as the book. The movie/book should be a fun experience for most people.

Youth from south Calgary needed!!!

Do you want to become a member of a new volunteer club in south Calgary? CYFC is looking for dedicated and committed youth that are interested in joining YVC South.  YVC South provides volunteer opportunities in and around the south communities while gaining valuable experience, receiving volunteer hours and meeting other awesome youth!

YVC South meets every Thursday after-school (4-6pm) at a convenient south location close to transit! Limited spots available so please email yvcclubs2@cyfc.ca to get more information or if you have any questions.

No, it is not Easter yet so put away those baskets of yours because you will not be getting any chocolate today. Instead, hunt for the Pizza Planet Truck! For those of you who don’t know where the Pizza Planet Truck comes from, it is from the movie, Toy Story,  by Pixar. Therefore, ever since Toy Story, Pixar has being putting the Pizza Planet Truck inside all their new movies. This is called an Easter Egg.

Believe it or not, the Pizza Planet Truck has made its appearance in Wall-E, Cars, A Bug’s Life along with all the other Pixar films even including Up! Check the links out and you will be surprised that you never noticed it!

Disney, which owns Pixar, has being putting Easter Eggs, such as Mickey Mouse, in almost every single one of their movies, whether it is just a shadow, a shape or an actual character from somewhere else! You just have to look real hard for them! Here is a list of Pixar film reference and you’ll be surprised at how many hidden things there are in Disney Movies!