The 8th Grade Blog

      NFT’s, how can a digital drawing of a monkey sell for thousands to millions of dollars? That I really don’t think should be possible, but it is. This is what I am going to be talking about today on this blog.

      This new thing called NFTs has recently become quite popular, and they have gotten lots of hate and jokes, as well as some people who actually take them seriously. NFT stands for Non-fungible token, and what they are exactly is “a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger,” basically a form of virtual currency, which is usually valued in an image, video, or audio file.

      There are so many jokes about screenshotting NFT’s and NFT heists, just going online and screenshotting multiple NFT’s at once, but really, there is no forgery in the world of NFT’s. Some NFTs have a digital certificate that will be listed among their “metadata” in the blockchain, so you can easily verify the ownership of the NFT by looking at the certificate before you buy or sell it, and your investments should be safe.

     NFTs can be minted like real-life coins. There are numerous websites where you can convert your drawings into digital assets and sell them for cash or cryptocurrency. Some idiot might end up buying your image and not even make a profit from it. 

     Now I will tell the story of a digital image that sold for about 91.8 million dollars. That’s just absurd. 91.8 million dollars on a digital image and the average annual income in America is around 67,000 dollars every year, and people in most other countries make much less than that. The image is called “The Merge’ and it literally just seems to be a few white spheres in a black void, and it is worth 91.8 million dollars. Once it sells, it has value, I suppose, but good luck reselling an image for millions of dollars! This digital image broke the record for the highest sold work of art by a living artist by about 700,000 dollars. The previous record was held by a sculpture of a rabbit that was literally just called “Rabbit.” But there is one thing I have not talked about; the selling of the NFT was on a platform called “NiftyGateway,” and the NFT was actually mass bought by 28,983 collectors. The sales may be considered a series of artwork, and possibly not break the “Rabbit” record. Either way, it is pretty amazing that this digital image got paid for that much. The NFT creator, Pak, has also sold many more NFTs. He has sold over 66,319 pieces of art, and his total artwork value is over 356,743,178.81 US dollars! I’m sure his journey there was another huge story that I’m not going to get into.

     In my personal opinion, NFTs are kind of stupid. I hear they are risky and may not be profitable for you. If I knew how to do any of that stuff, I would rather invest in stocks or normal cryptocurrency. Buy low and sell high. The problem with NFTs is that they don’t really have value. The artist might just say it’s worth this or that, sell it, then dip on the idiot who sold their dog to buy a picture of a monkey. See you later, and please don’t spend your life savings on a picture.

I remember my first panic attack. July 20th, Orlando Florida, fighting with my dad. It was scary, it felt like I was in a closed-in room, with four walls and a ceiling, no windows, no escape, claustrophobic, no air. It was a hard day and I nearly fainted. Sadly, that is just a piece of my story and where I came from. Mental health is a serious subject, that people know about but don’t know the danger, or serious causes of it.  They don’t know what it can effect or how it can affect children and adults and typically people of any age

Facts About Mental Illnesses. 

More than 43 million Americans struggle with mental illnesses.

Youth depression rates have risen from 5.9% to 8.2% since 2012

The four main mental health disorders are anxiety disorders. personality disorders. psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia) eating disorders.

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Causes Of Mental Health.

When someone deals with a mental illness/disorder such as an eating disorder, anxiety disorder, mood disorder like depression, personality disorders, and lastly psychotic disorders, it affects the human brain’s chemistry and function, but to put it in a simple way, when someone deals with a mental disorder it affects their way of thinking and functioning. 

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During my first panic attack, the only person who noticed was my brother, I’ve been through many things with family problems, drama, I mean I’m a teenager so of course there will be drama and rumors.  In my opinion, I don’t think many adults see the signs of kids’ mental health getting worse or kids’ self-esteem lowering. Many signs of a mental illness in kids at an early age can be as simple as spacing out, fidgeting, short temper, and long periods of unhappiness. From my experience, most people (adults) said I was faking for attention, or I don’t feel sad, and even things like I don’t have anything to be sad about. When people say things like this especially to kids/teenagers who are vulnerable, it keeps them thinking, and questioning themselves. This brings me to another point, suicide, it’s a serious and hard topic to talk about, but it is something that needs to be addressed. An estimated 1 million people worldwide die by suicide every year. Globally, suicide ranks among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15–44 years. Every year multiple people take their lives due to stress, worry, or just simply feel they can’t deal with things anymore and hope for the better on the other side. With all of this being said, make sure you are aware, of yourself, others, and be there for each other, things are hard and nothing can torment you as much as your own thoughts and the things that you say inside your head but we are all here for a reason. Always remember, life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

            The playoff race has begun, and teams are attempting to make the playoffs before it is too late. Due to injuries and poor judgments on the court, the Lakers are having a difficult season this year. Here are five ways the Los Angeles Lakers must accomplish in order to secure a playoff spot!!

Injuries 

The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled this season thanks to injuries, which are critical for the team’s success. Both Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn are suffering knee injuries.They’re also excellent scorers for the Lakers and help win most games.

Decisions on the court 

This season, the Lakers are not making the best decisions on the court, averaging 16 turnovers per game, with Russell Westbrook leading the way with 7 turnovers per game. To help with this issue, Russell Westbrook should switch positions and play shooting guard to ease stress and mostly hit high percentage shots that we need to win the game.

Trade deadline 

The trade deadline is approaching, and the Lakers will need to deal some players who don’t have a significant impact on the team’s performance on the court. Before the trade deadline, the Lakers must trade Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. Russell Westbrook, because he’s averaging around 14 points per game with seven turnovers and is expected to be a superstar, and now he’s being nicknamed Russell Westbrick. Since Anthony Davis hasn’t played for the majority of the season due to a variety of injuries, he’s been called Anthony (glass) Davis, and the Lakers can’t utilize him because he’s injured, I say just trade him because he’s doing nothing for the team right now. The Lakers need to find some 3 point shooters who can hit quick 3s when they’re needed most to win close games. Before the deadline, LAL may be capable of making the following trades: Buddy Heild, Dearen Fox, and Marvin Bagley for Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and two first-round picks. If not, trade Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis for DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and a second-round draft pick.

Shot selection 

The Lakers’ shot selection is primarily lacking in made three-point attempts, and they do not take as many three-point attempts as they should. The Lakers attempt roughly thirty threes each game as a team and only make 11 of them. Other successful teams, such as the Warriors, averaged 17 made three-pointers a game. 

Young talent

The Lakers are short on young talent and have far too many old people on the court. Tallen Horton-Tucker (21 years old) is the youngest, followed by Malik monk (23 years old). The age range is then 25-37 years old. Having an older roster isn’t ideal for a contending team because older players tend to slow down and get rusty, as well as suffer more injuries as a result of their age. This is especially problematic because half of the Lakers are past their prime and are having a disappointing season. The Lakers need to trade a couple older players and replace them with players in their prime or up-and-comers.

The psychology of serial killers is fascinating when you learn about their thinking, how they work, and what motivated them to act the way they did. 1974 Theodore Robert Bundy was born in the Vermont town of Burlington. Ted committed crimes in California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington between 1974 and 1978. Ted’s childhood was not typical; he was told that his grandparents (Samuel and Eleanor Cowell) were his parents and that his mother was his older sister because of the social shame associated with births outside of wedlock.

Ted’s biological father was never identified, and his mother’s name was Eleanor Louise Cowell (known as Louise at the Elizabeth Lund Home for unwed mothers). Ted was convicted of First-degree murder (x20), Attempted first-degree murder (x3), Aggravated kidnapping, and Burglary Bob Hayward of the Utah Highway Patrol arrested him for the first time in Granger in 1975. Hayward was suspicious about his Volkswagen’s removed front seat, and upon further inspection, he discovered a ski mask, a second mask made of pantyhose, a crowbar, handcuffs, garbage bags, a coil of rope, an ice pick, and other items that he initially mistook for burglary equipment. Bundy was freed on his own recognizance since the police did not have enough evidence to hold him. Bundy later claimed that searchers had missed a stash of Polaroid photos of his victims, which he destroyed following his release. Bundy was tried for the kidnapping of DaRonch in February 1976. Bundy waived his right to a jury on the recommendation of his attorney, John O’Connell, because of the terrible publicity surrounding the case.

Judge Stewart Hanson Jr. convicted him guilty of kidnapping and assault after a four-day bench trial and a weekend of deliberation. He was sentenced to one to fifteen years in Utah State Prison in June. He spent many weeks in solitary confinement after being discovered lying in bushes in the prison yard with an “escape package” that included road maps, flight schedules, and a social security card. Colorado officials accused him of Caryn Campbell’s murder later that month. He renounced extradition proceedings and was transported to Aspen in January 1977 after a period of defiance.

Bundy was taken 40 miles from the Garfield County jail in Glenwood Springs to the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen for a preliminary hearing on June 7, 1977. He had chosen to be his own attorney, and as a result, he was not required to wear handcuffs or leg shackles by the judge. During a break, he requested to use the law library at the courthouse to research his case. He unlocked a window and leapt to the earth from the second level, injuring his right ankle as he landed, shielded from his guard’s view behind a bookcase. He walked into Aspen as roadblocks were being set up on the outskirts, then hiked southward up Aspen Mountain after removing an outer layer of clothing. He broke into a hunting cabin near the mountain and stole food, clothing, and a rifle.

There were maps of the mountain area near Aspen in the car that prosecutors were using to show the location of Caryn Campbell’s body (Bundy had discovery rights as his own attorney), demonstrating that his escape was not a spontaneous act, but had been planned. Bundy defied the counsel of friends and legal professionals to remain in jail in Glenwood Springs. The case against him, which was already shaky at best, was progressively degrading as pretrial motions were routinely resolved in his favor and key pieces of evidence were declared inadmissible. In the nights, if you’re looking for something to do, While other inmates were showering, he sawed a one-square-foot hole in his cell’s ceiling between the steel reinforcing bars and wriggled through it into the crawl space above, having shed 35 pounds. He did a number of trial runs, investigating the space, in the weeks that followed. Several allegations of movement in the ceiling during the night from an informant were not followed up on.

Bundy piled books and files in his bed, then climbed into the crawl space, covering them with a blanket to resemble his sleeping form. He broke through the ceiling into the apartment of the chief jailer who was out for the evening with his wife changed into street clothes from the jailer’s closet and walked out the front door to freedom. In Glenwood Springs, the jail’s skeleton crew did not discover the escape until noon on December 31, more than 17 hours later. By then, Bundy was already in Chicago. Bundy’s death penalty was executed by an electric chair on January 24th, 1989 42 years of age. He confessed to 30 victims but only 20 were confirmed.

I am writing my first blog regarding the acquisition of Microsoft purchasing the company Activision Blizzard, announced Monday January 18, 2022.  Is this purchase converting to anyone? This is a rhetorical question of course. Do you all know that Activision was sued in July by the state of California for a culture of “sexual harassment,” among many other troubling problems, the company has been in a state of utter confusion. There is info on the internet and documentation showing that employees walked out, and more than 1,500 employees signed a petition to remove CEO Bobby Kotick. A recent employee of Activision recently told a credible source that 37 people had left the company, and 44 have been disciplined as part of its investigation.

The new CEO, FOR NOW, is Kotick and he was the center of another report saying the publisher’s former CEO was not only aware of but participated in the company’s bad and disgusting culture. Employees called for the CEO to step down not long after the report was published, as the bosses of both PlayStation and Microsoft told their employees they were troubled by the report.

Now, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is in line to run the company as Microsoft has a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion to bolster Game Pass and, supposedly, its metaverse ambitions (Lawler and Webster, 2022).  According to a press release, “Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth.” After that, the business will report to Spencer.

Reference:

The Verge. (2022). Read Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s email to employees about the Microsoft acquisition. Retrieved from

https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/18/22889464/microsoft-activision-blizzard-xbox-acquisition-bobby-kotick