Due to severe cases of writers block, the absence of most of our staff, and many other excuses that I could come up with right now, The Nearby Future is taking a temporary vacation. But don’t despair! We’ll be back right on in JULY! Now you can still visit, it’s just there won’t be any new content until July.

Here are some of the site projects that are taking place:

• Staff Coordination Videos: A fancy term for the monthly videos made to give the staff ideas on what to write and to keep them motivated.
• The Apocalypse Survival Guide: a witty guide on how to survive the end of the world.
• The Nearby Future Videos: this is an idea in progress- videos about the future.
• More media: more pictures and videos relating to the articles

So come back in July to see fresh new content, ideas, and more!

-Rika

I consider myself a treehugger. Not that I literally run around hugging trees, but when I see a good idea around I silently applaud the object of my appreciation. My recent discovery is treehugger.com. So I’m sifting around and reading these articles and out of nowhere in the ‘Planet Green’ section, I found this really out of place article excerpt.

“Those things that go bump in the night are often my shins whacking into some stray piece of furniture (or even one that’s always been there, but seems so utterly out-of-place at 2 in the morning.)”

The writer, Lynda Fassa, deserves a round of virtual applause. This article was so out of place and goes on later in the article to say-

“Whatever the case, it’s my job–and my pleasure–to banish the banshees and get everyone back to the Land of Nod. Well, my task just got a whole heap easier…. Now there’s a product, all natural and benign, that zaps those monsters and scares them so much, they might not ever come back. It’s the Monster Spray from Seaside Naturals ($7.99 for 4 ounces). Though you may be thinking that this is one of those “unnecessary” purchases that we talk about about when we encourage consumers to buy less, if you’ve ever had a little who knows these monsters well, you’d beg to differ.”

This article left me laughing very hard, not to mention surprised at this sort of wacky style of writing.

Of course, I think that the whole product is a waste. Since when are we going to go around with sprays to get rid of ‘monsters’, even if it is to satisfy our kids? Is this just some sort of expensive air freshener that she’s trying to sell?! I think that there are better places our money should go to, and better ideas to calm our kids.

If you would like to laugh harder, than be my guest and check this random article out.

One question- how in the WORLD does this relate to trees? Or saving them?

-Rika

Oh by the way I KNOW that we have left you poor readers hanging by a moment without an intriguing article coming out every two days recently, but I have been out of town and unable to write any articles (and apparently our staff was being lazy, too!) Ok, ok, to be fair it was Piratical Lord of the Guitar’s birthday on the 13th, so she was not obligated to write anything, plus Jennith is busy and- alright, enough excuses.

Remember to swing by Piratical’s latest article and wish her a happy birthday!

A new game has been discovered! It is the most boring, dull, and complete waste of time but you’ve all got to try it!Holdthebutton is a game where you click a button and hold it for as long as you can, simple right? True PLOTG but why would we want to waste our time with it?Well here’s why.

The reasons why you should play are because it tests your patience and increases the longevity that you can hold your bladder. The only very minor side effects are bladder problems, boredom, dehydration, starvation, and a decrease in sanity. However even if you were to receive one of these unfortunate side effects while in the hospital Holdthebutton gives you something to do. Plus it is imperative that we beat this one guy who held the button for six days!

Still think it’s dumb? Well I think your just scared because you know you can’t hold the button. I challenge you to go and try holdthebutton and post your score in the comment box to see who comes out victorious. Here are some tips for holdthebutton:

• Drinking soda while playing only effects your score by the amount of time that you can hold it
• When doing competitions against friends make sure they’re tired
• Alternate hands if must, but for a real challenge use just one
• Listen to music or something to pass time

Oh wait I still have to find a way to relate this to the future. Hmm, what about button holding unites the world and in the future…No, man this is hard. Oh I got it! Holdthebutton.com is such a simple and addicting pleasure in the future will button holding become more advanced, will button holding change? Will people begin holding all kinds of things such as hold the banana or hold the cookie? Let me know your thoughts and opinions on button holding of the future, and make sure to try out holdthebutton.com and let us know your score.

Holdthebutton.com

Thrills such as the roller coaster first began in Russia, as no more than a mere slide built of ice sheets and lumber that you slid down. We went from this simple pleasure to the mind bending, stomach lurching, steel-sparking roller coasters we have today- but what advancements for the future might there be?

Well shortly after the Russian’s ice sheets and lumber, the French built the first two wheeled roller coasters. They were christened Russes a Belleville (the Russian mountains of Belleville) and the Promenades Aeriennes (The Aerial Walk).

In Paris, France inside the Frascati Gardens, the first roller coaster with a loop was established. The hill was 43 ft. and the loop was 13ft. wide.

However, a man named La Marcus Thompson finally brought the idea of roller coasters to the Unites States. He was inspired by an old mine cart that was brought up a hill by a steam car and then rolled back down the hill. This idea intrigued him so he decided to be the first person to build a roller coaster in the U.S., and he did! The Switch Back Coaster as they called it was built in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It reached about 50 ft. and was used as a scenic coaster weaving through the woods. La Marcus Thompson’s Scenic Railway only cost 5 cents to ride, but even so it earned about 600 dollars a day!

From this beginning, the roller coasters were off to a roaring start, so to speak. People began to build roller coaster for thrill instead of just scenic use, increasing speed and amount of loops, turns, drops, and corkscrews to create pure madness and some twisted kind of joy. Roller coasters eventually evolved from wood and nails into what we’re familiar with today: that magical invention, steel.

Today you can also find that the way we ride roller coasters has also changed such as instead of a cart you are placed in a chair and tilted face down to the ground and then sent through a series of loops and twirls. An example of that would be Tatsu in Six Flags, in California. The stand up roller coaster is yet another example of a new concept of an old design.

With all these new ways to get your fill of thrills including increased speeds, innumerable amounts of loops, new concepts, and so much more, it leads us to wonder what could the future hold for roller coasters.

Would we manage to break the record with even more speed or height or will we once again change the method of riding or even the construction of the ride itself?

Tell me what your thoughts are and what you think a cool addition to the roller coasters of the future would be.

Today we have robots doing many things such as building our cars- but will they eventually remove any human involvement altogether?

Robots have slowly reduced the amount of human workers in the mechanical industry and also have taken on simple jobs inside our homes. Advancements in technology has increased so much that will they one day give the robot there own thought process.

So that you can better understand where I’m coming from here’s an example; You know that one movie- iRobot- well, what if something similar to that really did happen? (Yes I am aware this is my second reference to Will Smith’s movies in the last month but keep focused here people.) All of the things that lead up to the robotic take over is almost identical to our advances in robotics and the role that robots play.

We have the technology to give robots their own artificial intelligence, and we probably will, much to my dissatisfaction. Why, you ask, would it be beneficial? Well if robots could think similarly to a human it could repair things better and adapt itself to situations and deal with them instead of shutting down because it’s not in their programming. But could artificial intelligence lead to problems like, hmmm, a massive takeover?

So many people have jobs that involve repairs, mechanics, cleaning, ect. if robots where to replace these positions the economy would struggle. Yes the robotic industry could possibly boom but what about all those people who lost there jobs to robots? Sure, people need to repair the robots if they break, but robots still would take over more and more jobs. Robots don’t have a house or car payments or even a family to feed! Who should take priority here people?

The technology and everything is there- people like the idea of robots and their benefits, but is it really all that beneficial? Will we have a problem concerning these robots fighting for their rights?

What are your thoughts and opinions of robots? Will we eventually have a robot take over ? How far will the spread of robots go?

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

This is 2008 which means it’s another year to elect a new person to lead our country. If you have ever looked at the headers on the homepage on this website, you’ll note that you will see one just for the 2008 Presidential Election. Just Friday, it was down to the 2 Democrats~Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama- and the 1 Republican- John McCain. After Obama won the Democrat voting, people were wondering if the powerful Clinton would finally give in and endorse Obama. It was also said that the 2 Democrats met at Senator Feinstein’s home to talk in private without the press.

The meeting was held on Saturday, June 7. No press was allowed in. Of course being the person she is, Clinton was late… again. Approximately 30 minutes later she shows up and press says that it was going to be a short speech as well. Surprisingly, after awhile, she did endorse Obama and supports him 100%.

As for what opinions each candidate believes in, please refer to the 2008 Election button on our home page. It gives you information on the remaining candidates as well as former candidates.

We all want a good president representing our country, right? Well, that’s why we need to vote for the right person, not for who gets more publicity or who’s better looking (everyone knows that would be Barrack) but still, in order to vote you must vote for the right reasons.

Some people are worried for voting for McCain because he has had a rough time in his life. Part of the Vietnam War, John McCain got wounded and even received a purple heart for that. Getting a form of skin cancer wasn’t an easy battle either. Is his age and health risks okay enough to be elected into office? Well, that’s the public’s decision. If McCain were to win the election, he would be the oldest president to be inaugurated. Is this all a set back?

The sun is shining bright for Obama as now he has Clinton on his side rooting for him to win, but also the famous talk show host (whom of which I truly believe she should run for office), is also on Obama’s side. Now, this is obviously the first time Oprah Winfrey has ever taken sides on an election, but hey, the public most of the time listens to her.

On the best-seller books you always see books listed such as You: On A Diet, A New Earth, or any other book club selection. I believe that the public appreciates her opinions and most of the time supports them, so is that also another plus for him? Plus, he’s the better looking one compared to McCain, but remember that’s not why we like them.

As I said before, please just refer to the 2008 Election page. I think Rika wrote it and her information is always accurate so you definitely can trust it. However, we want to know who you think should win and please, always tell us why! Thanks!

~Hope

Who can resist those cute little kitten eyes? Or that adorable enthusiasm that puppies bring? Wouldn’t it be great if our pets stayed young forever?

If you want to become a foster home for animals, then you could very well have tiny little kittens and puppies in your house until they have to be brought back to the shelter to get spayed and neutered.

This summer I’m going to become a foster parent and take in kittens with minor colds, or who are too young for the shelter, and I’ll post regularly pictures of the kittens I receive. I’m very excited (of course- I love animals if you can’t tell) and I’m here to recommend becoming a foster home for kittens and puppies yourself.

• Hosted by your local Humane Society, this program helps give those deserving animals a second chance!
• Sometimes kittens and puppies can be a handful, but they’re so very cute and it’s a lot of fun to watch them play with their siblings and greet you happily when you come to visit them.
• By taking in young kittens, (or puppies) you give them a better chance of being adopted when they go back to the shelter. You can also show them to visitors in hopes of them wanting to adopt.
• Just helping kittens and puppies makes you feel more happy.

If you are looking to adopt an animal, you can help the world out a little by adopting an older cat or dog instead of a kitten or puppy, because these older animals have been without a home a longer time than the kittens or puppies. Adopting an older animal (anywhere from two years and older) is easier because kittens and puppies require much more attention. Always try and adopt from a shelter, because most pet stores get their animals from mills.

You can do many things to stop animal cruelty and just create a better future for animals. You can

• Sign the ASPCA pledge to fight animal cruelty.
• Be a foster parent for animals who can’t be in the shelter for one reason or another (Too young, not feeling well, etc.)
• Adopt a cat or dog from a shelter. (Instead of adopting kittens or puppies)
• Donate money to the ASPCA, or donate items to the Humane Society.

There is a lot that you can do- the question is, will you do your part to help animals in need?

-Rika

As usual, I am a huge Oprah fan and I was totally inspired by her latest episode. It was about helping schools in West Africa, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America. The children there want to learn, but are unfortunately unable receive adequate instruction due to the lack of materials and the poor learning environment. This program is called O Ambassadors in which they teamed up with Free The Children to help. The main purpose of this program is to help teenagers find the want to help others in need.

This program is meant for schools or classrooms. Working together as a team makes people realize that if you work together, you can get a lot done and most of all, feel good about yourself in the end. The main purpose of this organization is to provide awareness, empower, and to take action.

So far Free The Children has built over 55 schools in 12 countries. That is wonderful, however, more can be done if we just help! They are to pick a region they wish to help and then start working! In this program, educators will lead the group in activities to raise funds to develop project overseas and to create awareness at their school.

Imagine, no television, video games, iPods, electricity, air conditioning, or even clean places to use the restroom. On this particular episode, 12 teenagers from different high schools all over North America teamed up and raised money to build a school in Kenya. They raised about $8,500 and their journey began. Once they got to Kenya, they had just 3 weeks to build a school for needy kids with absolutely no tools, just the use of their own hands. They got it done, and the joy at the end was tremendous. They realized what good they could do and knew they made a difference for those kids in Kenya and it made them feel great.

I encourage all of you to go to oambassadors.org and take a part in this amazing opportunity

-Hope