I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I read a book, I kind of get absorbed in the book and become one of the characters. When I read a book I create mental images inside my head, like a little mini movie in my mind, and I have a certain perception of each character.

So when authors- let’s say for example Maximum Ride (because I’ve never read Twilight- gasp from the crowd-yes, yes, I know) my mental images were very different from that of the illustrator’s depiction on the covers. Fang’s appearance, or even Angel’s for that matter, were completely different on the cover of the third Maximum Ride.

How about when they make movies from books? (like they are going to with Maximum Ride) What happens to all those images and the adventures that you personally lived? Books stimulate creative thinking, but when they create a movie your imagination has been, in a way, transformed because now your views fit the description of the movie.

So even though many of us love books like Twilight, Eragon, and Maximum Ride, but is it really what we want to see? For our own personal views to be shattered and corrupted? How often have you read a book then went to the movie for and the director has completely screwed the whole thing up?

So what are views? Should we continue to take books and make them into movies? Or should we leave the imagination of thousands of readers to keep their own depiction of the book?

Rika’s Views:

Very good point, Piratical Lord of the Guitars, it IS hard to keep your own views of the characters when they show up on a movie screen. But, then again, if you want to keep your own views then you should just not go and see the movie. As for movies being destroyed in the theater, I can relate with that. *Cough cough Eragon*

Welcome to the first annual staff contest for thenearbyfuture.com !! In previous years on our freewebs.com/thenearbyfuture URL we’ve had staff contests, and Jala and Calister F. Wells were the victors.

So we put the power to award one of our hard working staff members the title of “Staff Contest Winner!”.

First, before you vote, here are all the staff members and a quote from them (taken from previous entries- not really relating to the staff contest):

Jala: “Three books. Three days. The story of my life.”

Hope: “I would also hate for a candidate to win if they really shouldn’t have.”

Calister F. Wells: “Words can’t win wars, and words can’t jump start a depressed economy, and even though words can help, they can’t do as much devastation as swords, and are certainly lacking against nuclear weapons.”

Rika: “A vote for Calister is a vote for a maniac who believes nuclear weapons are the answer. A vote for me is a vote for the trees!”

Piratical Lord of the Guitars: “As you can tell by the name I love Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and of course the world’s most fabulous invention- the guitar!“

Jennith: ” What is this world coming to? First, we use corn for fuel. And now we’re using CHOCOLATE for fuel?”

Ashley Lampost: “The future contains many technological wonders that us mere mortals can hardly comprehend.”

Kendra: “Hello Moto!” (Don’t ask)

Voting:

To vote for your favorite staff member, leave a comment below OR take our survey! Taking our survey would help us out a lot more, but you can do either one. We suggest the quick, four question survey.

Take the survey by clicking on this link:Click Here to take survey

The staff contest ends on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, so vote already!

Thanks for taking our survey! You have helped us a lot.

 The Purpose of Why I’m Writing This

A lot of times on this site we have stressed the danger of Global Warming and how it with biofuels can destroy our environment. This is an important problem, people! We need to act before it gets out of hand. This article ’splains what we- the average people of America- can do to stop this oncoming demise of our planet, just to catch those people up who don’t have a clue and are a little lost reading our articles.

What is Global Warming?

If you don’t know what global warming is, then you have either been living under a rock or cannot read. Global. Warming. Our Earth getting hotter. Ice melting. Lots of ice. The world floods, or dries up because of lack of rain, and then we can say good-bye to many farms and food supplies out there.

Why is it our world’s ‘impending demise’ as you say?

Okay, okay, ‘impending demise’ is a little over the top. A little melodramatic. But, as I stated in the PREVIOUS answer, lots of agricultural problems can happen, most of them dealing with water- our very important resource. Think of this as a big, huge variable equation. A lot of things could happen, but when- and if- they do happen a lot of other elements could play in to the equation either amplifying the effects of disastrous ‘variables’ or decreasing their threat. Scientists don’t know exactly what will happen when all the pieces fit together, so to speak.

Do you have a grudge against biofuels or something?

Rika and I rarely share the same viewpoints. (When I say rarely, I mean NEVER) But on biofuels, we both have decided that using them in their current state actually is worse for the environment. Why?

1. Biofuels use food that should be eaten (I don’t want my chocolate fueling cars, thank you very much)
2. More energy is used to make the biofuels than the biofuels actually produce.
3. When the food substance used for that fuel becomes overused, the products associated with that food rise in price, causing some economic problems.

So biofuels- until we can get them to run on something that doesn’t damage our economy or the environment (example: banana peels or orange rinds) then they are just bad news for our planet, possibly being responsible for our ‘demise’. (I’m not being melodramatic! I swear!)

Why do I need to know this?

The next time you go to buy a new car, you have a decision to make: destroy the world, buy a Hummer. Destroy the environment AND economy: buy a car that runs on corn fuel. Possibly help the world: buy a hybrid. When we say ’save the world’ we really mean it.

If the oceans flood over and rainfall patterns change drastically enough, then deserts may even be underwater. I, for one, don’t like the idea of scuba diving and then running into a cactus.

What’s up with the serious writing?

Serious issues deserve semi-serious writing. No, our idea of ’serious’ doesn’t mean throwing in complicated words into sentences that make almost no sense. “The aberration in rainfall patterns…” isn’t our type of writing. But when there’s something you need to know, we joke about running into cacti while scuba diving. Not too serious, but still serious enough.

-Calister F. Wells

   You wake up. You quickly grab breakfast and are out the door towards work, stressing over one thing or another. At work, you fret about your latest project, and when you get home your worries are directed towards financial issues and home life. All this stress is normal- or, that’s what we’ve been led to believe.

Why Stress is Detrimental

Being stressed out is not good for several reasons. One, being how it effects everyone around you. Did you know that studies have show that your kids are more likely to become ill if they are in a household with a lot of stress from surrounding family members? That should motivate all of the parents to relax and to stop constantly worrying.

Aside from creating household problems, stress also creates health problems. It is known that people who are stressed out often over eat and are less likely to exercise. They more likely to smoke and drink more, and stress might raise the risk of heart attacks.

How to Get Rid of Stress

These scary side effects should be enough to make us stop and take a deep breath. People with less stress in their lives have eliminated many problems and risks by simply taking everything calmly. Easier said then done, this feat cannot be accomplished overnight.

Here are some ways to reduce stress:

• Get some fresh air: you’ve heard it before, magazines suggesting fresh air for overstressed individuals. Nature just has a way of helping us chill out, even for just a little while. Take a walk or open up some windows or doors.
• Organize! A clean house or an organized schedule are simple ways to feel less stressed. I always feel better when I have a clear to do list! And- bonus! - people are said to sleep better when their rooms are clean because they have less on their mind.
• Smile. Just smiling makes you feel better. Be pleasant and people will be more pleasant back to you!
• Get more Zzz’s: You are much less likely to reach a breaking point if you have gotten plenty of sleep.

How in the WORLD does this relate to the future, Rika?

Good question! Over the years, our society has become more complex. The more complex our society becomes, the more things the average people have to keep track of. Add the financial issues because of depleting oil and the rising food prices and what do you get? Stress!

-Rika

One thing that we can look forward to is a very self-sustainable future. One product is paving the way towards a future which products repair themselves!

French scientists have created rubber that, when pinched together after being sliced, can mend and be as good as new! The process takes an hour, but this is definitely an important leap towards more innovative products and designs.

See the process in action here.

Why this is important:

Just think: we can do so much with this! In places, such as outer space, where repairing gear might be difficult, self repairing space ships, space gear, fuel tanks; so many worries can be eliminated. We are always looking for a way to make space travel much more safe, and this is yet another invention that may bring us closer to where we want to be in terms of safety.

-Rika

There once was a time- and not that long ago, either- when photos were rather expensive (compared to today) and were in black and white. For the people of the time that was completely normal and they didn’t really think much about anything better, until colored photos were invented, and then they took that as the norm.

Videos have come a long way; if you think of it the way I do, then for one you’d be slightly crazy (Calister F. Wells is not exactly the kind of guy people think like) and, secondly, in the time line of the creation of video you’d start at black and white photos. (Or possibly cave drawings- depends if you felt prehistoric).

So such an unused invention like black and white photos have led to what we know today as videos? Perhaps.

Here’s an interesting thought: try and imagine what videos will be like in the future. Star Wars-ish, maybe- the holograms are kind of like videos when you think about it. Will videos include more of the senses? (Smell, perhaps?) That would be interesting.

“How was the movie, Timmy?”

“It smelled funny.”

*Sigh* The future is such that us mere mortals cannot possibly contemplate without humor. I wonder what cavemen would do if they saw us playing the Wii…. probably laugh. Heck, even the present day people still laugh when they see someone swinging that white remote and looking like an idiot.

-Calister F. Wells: Laughing at the Future

News people like celebrities. They like to write about them. They like to buy photos of them. They like to stalk celebrities to get photos to sell. Like the war on Iraq and crime in general, the news is in love with celebrities, too.

What good do celebrities do? Not very much. They smoke, drink, get arrested for a few days, (”What did you do THIS time Paris Hilton?” “I murdered someone, officer” “We’ll put you in for 24 hours this time.”) and then get released and plan their next arrest. Besides bad influences for our kids, they serve as a distraction to daily life.

The photo above is exaggerated of course (what comic strip is NOT exaggerated?) but it adds to the list of problems that celebrities bring:

• They are bad role models
• Often times their music is a bad influence
• They distract society from important issues

The type of celebrities I’m talking about are not the hardworking bands out there, but the actor/singer/songwriter/convict I’ve-never-worked-a-day-in-my-life celebrities. (Like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears)

But- despite the large negative impact celebrities have- there are some positive effects of their existence:

• They give reporters and columnists jobs
• Celebrities- every once in awhile- do come out with good music
• They unite the nation (when they’re not in jail) during hard times

Celebrities will remain, and most likely will still be here far into the future. (Most likely thanks to all the fans out there)

-Rika

You cannot wish for something you never wanted.

Rika’s Thoughts:

Wishes are born out of goals; often times goals that are difficult or impossible. You can’t wish for something you don’t want, but you can’t wish for something so easily acquired: then the wish is just a mere thought and nothing more. The goal must be difficult or lengthy. Wishes have specific, unwritten definitions. Usually, wishes are naive hopes that something will happen to make the whole goal easier, the wish very unrealistic. Sometimes the wish is realistic, but unprobable. The whole point of wishing is restoring hope, whether that hope is realistic or not.

The human brain is very complex, and you see these new discoveries about it every day. Emotions and feelings, often times, are more complicated than anything else our body can do. Why do certain people feel certain ways? Why are women often times more organized? The list goes on…

No doubt we will know more secrets of the human brain as time progresses, but being able to figure out more information more quickly would speed up other discoveries as well.

An example of this is the latest in video games, slated to come out this winter: the Epoc. A game that uses the EEG brain signals to control a video game, this shows what we can do with technology and knowledge of the brain. The technology, as it turns out, is older and until now hasn’t been thought to be able to be so flexible. This is a perfect example of how new knowledge of the brain can turn old technology towards new uses!

The Epoc: (read about it here)

Now this all ties into our site. Kendra, our newest writer, wants to help discover the reasoning behind ideas, emotions, and thoughts in a simple way: by polls. So for the sake of science, take her polls! Every once in awhile I’ll come out with a new post summing up the results of her polls and what they mean. Maybe, if we can get enough participation, we can really get somewhere with our research!

(visit Kendra’s page HERE)

-Rika

So Rika has decided that in order to keep the “quality high” of our posts, we’re posting every OTHER day instead of EVERY day. (We don’t want to exhaust all our topics, do we?)

Expect the next post on the 15th and expect it to continue this way, our only regular post the philosophies on Mondays.

And Rika also wants me to pass on her thanks for all you people reading this, but I don’t see the point. What exactly did YOU do anyways that deserves thanks?

-Calister F. Wells

  More dangerous than we’d like to think…

We are in the age where consumer smarts is important; with all the food and pharmaceuticals out there claiming to be the best (and some of those actually being detrimental to your health!), consumers need to stay in the know. One of the most well-known and largely publicized healthy food is yogurt. Yogurt, when made correctly, is rich with calcium, vitamins, and fruit.

But all too often, a bottle of yogurt may include harmful ingredients like high fructose corn syrup or artificial ingredients; or the yogurt may be overloaded with sugar. Surprisingly, many of the main brands of yogurt, like Yoplait, include these health detriments. Sure, milk may be first on the ingredients list, but sugar second on the list is not a good sign (soon followed by high fructose corn syrup and artificial ingredients).

So despite all of the “low fat!” sort of claims scrawled all over the product, there’s more to the yogurt than meets the eye. To be fair, there are some healthier brands of yogurt out there, but the amount of unhealthy kinds is higher than we’d like to think.

Shop smart, read the ingredient labels.

-Rika

    The Nearby Future staff has recently celebrated our 3-year mark; yes, we’ve been writing for three years. (Well, the original members, anyways) And this got me to thinking that I should not just write under the restraints of Rika’s editing, and, instead, should start my own blog. Of course I’d still write here, I’m not leaving this site anytime soon.

If you want to visit my new blog-in-the-making, just go to The Wells Mission; http://thewellsmission.blogspot.com/ (yes, I’m stuck in yet another server! Maybe, if our site grows enough, it will become “thewellsmission.com”)

So if you support Calister F. Wells, visit my site. If I get enough visitors, I’ll upgrade it to it’s own domain name.

-Calister F. Wells

Here’s some info on The Wells Mission:

Your mission, if you chose to accept it, is to save the human race from crazed environmentalists and politicians who don’t know what they’re doing, and to do it by way of knowledge and action. If you accept this challenge, go to The Wells Mission to receive more information and start your mission. 

     For your safety, this message will not self destruct.

The pen is mightier than the sword, but the mind is sharper than the pen.

Calister’s Thoughts:

Honestly, Socrates, I’m not into philosophy, but this is my favorite quote of all time. Sure, written words can hurt, but pure mind power beats all. If this was a game of rock-paper-scissors, knowledge could beat all of the above. And, technically, a sword would kill paper every time. Words verses wars? Words can’t win wars, and words can’t jump start a depressed economy, and even though words can help, they can’t do as much devastation as swords, and are certainly lacking against nuclear weapons.

Paper. We all have it. We all write on it. We all throw it away. We all waste it. And is this all about to change?

Reasons Why Paper Should Be Replaced:

• I’m not exactly a tree hugger, but trees contribute to a healthful world, so I think they should keep them around. So why waste trees on paper products that are often time unnecessary?
• They’re dangerous: paper cups are made with a little bit of oil, and every time you use one the oil goes into your body. This is unsanitary, unhealthy, and just another reason to ban paper products.
• Paper is contributing to the growing amount of trash on this Earth. What happens when we have too much? Then what?

So when you’ve come to the conclusion that paper- in the vast amounts that we use it now- is dangerous to our environment and our health, you need to figure out what to do to cut back on our paper usage and to maximize on saving our Earth.

• Banning or putting high taxes on paper products would discourage people from buying them, which would save forests.
• Plant trees! We’ve used so many forests for trivial products, and in order to save Earth we must help by restoring natural resources.
• Ebooks: this glorious new invention could replace at the very least newspapers and magazines; maybe this technology will become advanced enough to make people actually want to use it for reading everything.

Problem solved! All this can be summarized into a catchy phrase: Save the trees, save the world.

Picture Citations:

Ebook Reader Save Our Trees

Yes you read it right: a hotel in space. This miraculous experience opens in 2012 to the public. But don’t get too excited, it opens mainly to the rich public for just three days. It’s 4 million dollars, not your average everyday salary. However, this space paradise orbits there Earth every eighty minutes! I guess that breaks the record of around the world in 80 days. Plus you get to see the sunset 15 times a day; what a view! The only problems builders have come across are water usage, such as bathrooms. The shower problem has been resolved, and they are building a spa room where guests can go in and float around in water bubbles.

Beside the fact you have to be a billionaire, I can find no downside. Great views, experience, the thrill; if I was rich, I would love to be in this hotel. Would you spend the money and travel for three day to space, or do you think it’s a waste? Let us know your thoughts!

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

Citation

Rika’s Thoughts:

Sure this place sounds awesome; but really, how great is it? What is the percentage of it crashing? How often does it’s fuel supply come? It’s too good to be true. Who would spend that kind of money on something that could potentially put there lives in great risk? What’s so good about space, anyways? Sure, the view to our Earth is spectacular, but I just can’t find a love for all those other desolate planets out there.

Well Rika you make great points. However could you imagine what a thrilling vacation to know that your up in space on a real adventure, and so what if the hotel  crashes or runs out of fuel if you survive that’s something to tell your grand kids about. Plus what makes space so great is that it’s not Earth it’s totally different and while your in space you can see Earth! Isn’t that worth seeing?

My point with the interesting title is to say something about one of the most advanced societies of it’s time. So here we all are, thinking, “Oh! The iphone! Our civilization must be the most advanced,” and as each new invention comes out we think the same thing. But these inventions aren’t something as great as discovering, say, the first democracy.

Lets say that you lock three Ancinet Greeks and three modern Americans in a room. Steve Jobs says, “I invented the iphone, and the Macbook Air, and the-” and then one of the Greeks cuts him off.

“Well I invented democracy.” That shuts Steve Jobs right up.

So then Donald Trump decides that he can beat that. “Well I have millions and millions of dollars that I couldn’t possibly use in my lifetime and I earned it all from building expensive buildings.”

The Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates speaks. “I influenced many Athenians with my philosophy, teaching them about finding themselves and making them think. Technically, I invented Philosophy in its whole, and then died for my work.”

Ancient Greeks: 2. Modern day Americans: zip.

One of the head founders of the Olympics begins to speak. “Well I invented the Olympic Games that have been played many times and have not only brought civilization together, but have given aspiring athletes a cause to fight for and to win, furthermore improving overall health and motivation for young people to exercise.”

Bill Gates doesn’t say anything.

The Greeks made many discoveries; making our discoveries today seem useless in comparison.

They invented many other things that we use today. Here are some others besides the ones already listed above:

• Took the scientific approach of actually studying diseases to find more about them
• Playwrights produced the first dramas
• Invented rules of Geometry as well as setting down other math laws
• Wrote incredible mythology, poetry and literature.
• Wrote the first histories

So the Ancient Greeks really knew how to build the foundation for a semi-stable society while inventing many of the things we use today. Except for their geo-centric scheme, they were right on target for everything else. So next time you’re thinking up inventions, think like the Greeks!

-Calister F. Wells

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all“

I’m sure many of you have heard the well known pledge of allegiance and are probably aware of the debate on whether “under God” should remain in the Pledge or even on our U.S. currency. Well recently, NBC had a poll on whether or not people believe in God, and the responses poured in. The results of the poll were as follows: 86% of all Americans believe that there is a God, and only 14% don’t. So tell me this: why are we going to change something our nation was based on by our founding fathers because 14% of Americans say the want it out? I personally don’t see how it’s all adding up. What are your views on the subject? Take it out or leave it in?

Rika’s Thoughts:

I think the people who really care about taking the pledge out are making a big fuss, but mostly that 14% doesn’t really care. I don’t really see why we care about the pledge when there are more pressing matters out there: like, for instance, global warming. Those two words are eating up time, and the well known phrase “Time is Money” so we’re wasting money on this silly debate.

Have you noticed that music in the 2000’s hasn’t been nearly as good as music from like the 80’s? Hit’s from the 80’s include Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, I Love Rock N’ Roll, Material Girl, and Jessie’s Girl plus many more. It’s amazing what kind of music is popular among the current teen generation. You’d think that they would regard all old music as worthless, but often times this isn’t the case. Even Grease is still popular!

One thing that is different today is the lack of musicals. You don’t see fantastic musicals like Grease anymore. Who knows, maybe the 70’s and 80’s songs will still be popular far into the future

~Hope

Money is one of those things that most people adore, some have a lot, and some people not so much. Did you know that in the future the UN plans to merge all currencies into one? Which currency would they use?

Many spiritual sources, such as the Bible also say that even after that every single person will have to have a chip inserted into there wrist and that will be their means of purchase, like a credit card. I guess you’ll never have to worry about identity theft!

The only downside is that with getting the chip installed to able to purchase things you have to take a Lucifarian oath. According to the Bible Lucifer was once an angel who decided he could do better than God. Well God became angery and sent him and one-third of all angels into what is known as…. hell. Also according to the Bible, there will be a period of time (Tribulation) in which the Anti-christ (the devil or Lucifer) will reign here on Earth trying to get as many believers as possible.

So as you can see, to the Pentecostal believers and such that chip means more then just an installed credit card. In the Bible in the book of Revelation in the New Testament it talks about these times, and it also states that a bar code will be in scripted into your wrist. No one knows exactly when these times (Tribulation) will occur but I personally, if you can’t tell I am a pentecostal believer, and if faced with the decision, will not take the Lucifarian oath or the chip.

What would you choose?

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

Turn what you fear into something you can conquer and conquer it, what we conquer is nothing to fear.

Rika’s Thoughts:

Like Roosevelt’s famous quote “We have nothing to fear except fear itself” this quote is basically on the road to not having anything to fear. By making up our minds to not fear something, we can overcome it and enjoy life without that fear. That particular fear will always be present, but by not acknowledging it, we can live our lives more happily.  That is what we strive for, correct? Happiness? And if fear is our enemy, why wouldn’t we want to conquer it?

Now this also applies to extreme phobias; even though those are often times more extreme, they still can be conquered, and without willpower they will not be conquered. Everything begins with will.

“Ew! There is no way I am going to do this scene with him!” “Do you even know who I am?!” Movie stars. They can definitely be spoiled at times, but for some reason the general populous loves to watch them screw up. Now, here is the whole entire point of this article: What will happen to movie stars of the future? I can bet there will be more Science Fiction movies, similar to Star Wars or Star Trek. I’m wondering whether or not the stars will actually be in real space in real suits, or it’ll just be more animation and green-screen technology.

I mean, the human race is bound to figure out a better and safer way to be out in space, making it cheaper for average people like you and me to go out there. That would mean movie stars would most likely go out there to film. What do YOU think? I already stated my opinion, so I want to hear yours. Leave a comment, please!

-Jennith (formerly known as ASPCAgal)

Rika’s Opinion:

Great points Jennith! I’m still trying to fathom why we spend so much time watching stars flail around on the news. What’s the point? Knowing that we’ve got it better even though most of us have less money? I think all the scandals are entertainment in itself. We all remember the gossip that circulated in middle school and how some people seemed to live off that gossip, and I think it’s the same thing with Hollywood today. More people are interested in stars because they think that as long as they aren’t doing the gossiping (the papers do that for them) it’s okay and they aren’t doing anything wrong.