#14 YouTube and China

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMS8K_Swu10

In class, we watched a video about Starcraft and South Korea. This is a BBC News Report on World of Warcraft and Chinese gold farmers that sell the gold to the UK. But they do not only sell them to the UK, they sell them to the United States, and I'm sure any other country where there is a market. Players already play around $15 a month to access the servers, and pay somewhere between $30 and $50, each, for the CD's to install the game, and its two expansions.Even with these costs already in place, people are willing to pay even more to get ahead.
I play WoW and see it alot. I also know people that have gotten banned for illegal gold trading and so forth. I find it really strange that while the Internet is strictly monitored in China, a game like WoW, which is very social and about working together, but also very capitalist, is allowed to prospect. My only guess is that it is allowed because it is a good source of income for the country and decent jobs that require little skill and little capital.

#15 World Name Profile

http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/

First,
Little: I tell everyone its English, it sounds English. Reality, there are more Little's in Australia and New Zealand, then in the UK. The top ten list shows that it is most common in Western Europe, Australia/New Zealand and US/Canada, which makes senses geographically and historically, because they were all settled by the same people.

Second,
Spreng: It is my grandmother's maiden name, she immigrated from Germany after WWII.
Results: 1. Germany, 2. Switzerland, 3. Austria, 4. France, 5. US, 6. Argentina, 7. Serbia, 8. Cananda, 9. UK, 10. Italy.

Third, (Doctor Who)
I always thought that the creators of Doctor Who were a bit lazy with the surnames. The Doctor often goes by John Smith, the series three companion is names Martha Jones, and Sarah Jane Smith and Mickey Smith are both reoccurring characters.
Results:
Smith:

1. Australia 12254
2. UK 12176
3. New Zealand 9009
4. US 9000
5. Ireland 4559
6. Canada 3093
7. Norway347
8. Denmark 302
9. Netherlands 235
10. Sweden 161

Jones:

1. UK 9298
   
2. Australia 6132
3. US 4954
4. New Zealand 4002
5. Canada 1668
6. Ireland 1316
7. Argentina 84
   
8. Sweden 79
9. Luxembourg 76
10. Spain 69

I think that they weren't being lazy, they were just picking, common, identifiable names...
Also, for fun...
Tyler: UK 276 & US 224
Harkness: New Zealand 99 & UK 65
Noble: Australia 428 & UK 399

#13 Bizzaire Foods

What people traditionally eat is very dependent on what kind of climate they live in. Because different foods grow in different conditions, it makes it hard to have something that does not grow well as a food staple. Like, it would be really hard of the Great Plains to grow rice, so they don't. They grow corn, and traditionally eat a lot of it. Aside from agriculture, it would be hard for Mexicans to have a traditional diet that includes buffalo, because buffalo don't live in Mexico; its too warm.

As globalization spreads, it is getting easier to regions to import food items that they can not grow themselves, and so, like everything else, food is getting to be globalized. Examples of this are McDonald's on every corner of every city. But they are not all the same, still depending on the different traditions of the regions. I have always heard that British and Western Europe's beef is much more lean than the US's, which most American's interpret as tasting badly, when it is really just a regional difference.

#12 G-20 Summit

The G 20 includes:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Indonesia
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States of America

The Picture is of Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The focus in the states seemed to be of President Obama meeting the Queen, but in reality, she has little political power. The power that she does have is rooted in the loyalty of the people shes 'rules', so it is very good that he didn't upset her. But the truth is that Gordon Brown, and who ever follows him, are the people that we really want to impress and work with.

#11 Google Earth

I like this view, because you always here about how big the Pacific Ocean is and how far it is across the Atlantic. We see the Pacific because of Hawaii and the Atlantic because its what all the pilgrims crossed. You never really see the Indian Ocean in its fullness. Its only shown in bits, or is distorted. I never realized how big it is.

The Indian Ocean is huge.

#10 Slumdog Millionaire and Bollywood

Bollywood Posters

#9 Spring Break Travels

Over Spring Break, I drove home to Sparta, Illinois (B) and during the week, I went north to visit my baby sister at Eastern Illinois University, in Charleston, Illinois(c) where she is a freshman.
One the right is a picture of her and her roommate and their dorm room door that they decorate regularly, to match the season. When I was visiting, it had a barn and farm animals. It makes their room really easy to find.

#8 Aid to Africa

After reading the articles and the book, I think that the United States and other countries should seriously reconsider how they invest in Africa. Africa definitely needs the aid, but are we reall supplying them with real help the way it is now. Instead of just giving them money, we need to pay closer attention to what it is used for. They need to develop their infrastructure and trade. Most of the countries also lack a stable government, which I think is the first key to becoming more developed. If people can not depend on the government to protect them and key control, outside investors will not build and invest in that area.

#7 HDI and Sub Saharan Africa

The variables on the HDI include life expectancy, GDP per capita, access to clean water, and children underweight for their age.

The geographic pattern is that the HHD tend to be the "Western world" and some of the Middle East. The MHD include South America, Middle East, Eastern Europe and some of Asia.

Sub Saharan Africa is probably so low because they are some of the poorest countries, which effects alot of the variables. Many of the countries do not have ports, or access to trade, and even the ones that do, do not have much to trade with the Western world. I think another factor is the way that SUb Saharan Africa was colonized. Most of the natives were treated as second class, and not allowed education and properity.

#5 Cuba Travel Ban?

Lifting the ban on travel to Cuba will not serve to combat communism. Cubans already seem to know the benefits of capitalism and the US, because so many try to escape to the States. It is not like China, where they have been suppressed so long, and slowly integrating communism might help to show the people that there are better governments. I think that in Cuba, the only thing that lifting the travel ban will accomplish is to supply the country(government) with more money, and probably strengthen it.

#6 National Geographic Photography

This picture is from London, England. I like it because it shows several London landmarks all in the same shot. In the front of the picture are the double decker red buses that are common to London. In the background is Big Ben and the House of Parliament. Just off to the left of Big Ben, you can see part of the Eye of London, which is a Ferris wheel on the bank of the Thames. I mostly like this picture because Big Ben, the Eye of London and the buses have all been featured in Doctor Who (Boomtown, Rose and Planet of the Dead, respectively).

#4 Current Events

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5242000/Swine-flu-cruise-lines-suspend-trips-to-Mexico.html

After many identified cases of swine flu in Mexico, many major cruise lines are bypassing ports in Mexico for the safety of their passengers. While have already been cased identified in Britain and the US, it is still not as wide spread there as in Mexico.

#3 Cartograms - Extinct Species

This cartogram depicts the countries based on extinct species.

I thought that it would relative to MDC or population, but it is not really.
It's not MDC, because look how small Western Europe is.
And it's not population, because look at India and China.
I can not really decide what it means.
Some places that surprised me were New Zealand and Australia, Sri Lanka, and the Caribbean. Also, South America is small than I thought it would be. It is a very interesting map.

#2 LDC and MDC -- Maldives and United Kingdom

Maldives is classified as a LDC. There are several reasons for this. The country was a sultanate for the Dutch and then the British and only achieved independence in 1968. Since then it has been a republic, but not very democratic. The country also have to import most of its staple foods, and relies primarily on the tourism and fishing industries.

The United Kingdom has a well established government, and a good supply of resources as well as a diversified economy.

Completely Unrelated Information

Bizarre Fact #147:
Did you know...
If you could cut out the United States, its center of gravity would be at Friend, Nebraska.

http://www.ebizarre.com/Category/Geography_and_Space/15/

Bizarre Fact #25:
Did you know...
The largest ketchup bottle in the world is a 170 feet tall and is located in Collinsville, Illinois, USA. It was built in 1949 by the W.E. Caldwell Company as a water tower.

http://www.ebizarre.com/Category/Places/3/
http://www.catsupbottle.com/

Bizarre Fact #193:
Did you know...
The most popular American city for Kool-Aid sales is St. Louis, Missouri.

http://www.ebizarre.com/Category/Food_and_Drink/20/

#1 Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina

This summer my family and I went to North and South Carolina. The first place that we stopped was the Biltmore Estates, which is the largest privately owned home in the United States. It was finished in 1895 as a home for George Vanderbilt. The estate is on 125,000-acres. The intent was to build a functioning estate, with gardens and animals, that was self supportive, as well as a get away for Vanderbilt's family and friends. http://www.biltmore.com/our_story/our_history/default.asp

The house is absolutely enormous, and full of history.
My sister and I spent most of the day wandering around
the main house, which has an indoor swimming pool and
bowling alley. Later, we took a shuttle to the winery/farm.
While my parents went to the winery, which use to be a successful dairy farm, we wandered the farm building that had been turned into a museum/petting zoo.


Biltmore is my favorite place I've been because its so full of history. It is so well preserved; it is almost like you are looking into the house in the twentieth century, and there is so much that can be learned from it, about the past.