H3y U R a QT ;)

Something that we don't realize today is that the majority of us are fluent in another language that we see every day. Text lingo, online slang, call it what you want, but these abbreviations like 'omg', 'wtf', 'nm', or 'ttyl' were not always around.

I remember my mom called me a few weeks ago and asked me, "What does 'LMAO' stand for?" I laughed as anyone my age would, but looking back it makes me realize that it is like a foreign language to some people.

Almost everyone has those friends on a social network who TyP3 liik3 DiS && Itz s00 Ann0yInG! Or we may catch ourselves being lazy and abbrivating sentences like "OMG WTH!?!" And without even thnking twice, we can decode what someone is trying to say, or easily know the words of what each letter stands for.

25 years ago, no one would have known our slang and typing styles that we see and use today. But as fasicnating as that is, is that a good thing? I would say probably not. Multiple times I have heard teachers rant about how lazy we are getting when it comes to writing, and that the amount of spelling and grammar mistakes are increasing with each generation.

Possibly text lingo is to blame for this. Why would a 6th grader learn how to spell the word 'tomorrow' when online they just use 'tomm' or 'tmrw'? And maybe that's the most practice they get at spelling is through online socialization.

I think that the excuse used to be on our older cellphone we would have to press a button multiple times to get to certain letters and abbreviating was faster and more convienant. But why do we do it while on the computer? We have a whole keyboard there and pressing a few extra keys can take less than 2 seconds.

If we keep getting lazier and lazier each generation, will our writing and spelling suffer?

-Zaquisha

If you're looking for a great Italian restaurant on State Street, Tutto Pasta would definitely be the place to go!  It is a little more expensive and upscale, but it's definitely worth the price.  They offer plenty of pasta dishes, pizza, and delicious appetizers.  It would be perfect for a date night with that special someone or a birthday dinner with friends.  My favorite dish here is the Tutto Pasta.  It is their signature dish and is nothing like you have ever tasted before! Simply delicious!  Go check it out!




-Wrianna Besely

Inside Wisconsin Basketball

Hey everyone, its Dubs here with an inside look at Wisconsin basketball!  First year team manager Brandon Zall has been kind enough to answer a few questions about the program, Bo Ryan and even a little about the role of social media in the lives of student athletes.

Dubs: What are your main duties as manager? 

Brandon:  Managers are hired to make life easier on the coaches, staff and players. Jobs are wide ranging and there are many of them. These jobs include but are not limited to: running autograph requests from individuals and charities, setting up equipment before practice, wiping sweat if players fall during games and practice, taping opponents games so coaches can watch  

The Kevin Bacon Game

There is a little game people play called the Kevin Bacon Game. In this game, players name their favorite actors and then they try to connect them with Kevin Bacon using movies and co-actors. The idea is that any actor is related to Kevin Bacon within six roles.

This is a play off of the "six degrees of separation theory" in which people believe we are all connected with in six hops to everyone else in the world. This video explains it a little bit better.

It is long, but if you jump around a bit you get the idea. So do you believe the theory is true throughout the world? Are you connected in some way to every person in Denmark, Russia, and Ethiopia? Share your thoughts on the theory. 

Spring "Break"

Hello everyone.

After reading Satie's post below, I got to thinking that: how much break do we really get?

I will never be one to complain about a week off of classes, and I know it makes a huge difference when you are heading to Florida or Cabo to get out of the freezing Madison atmosphere every now and then, but is this break a really a break?

Let me explain a bit. I have a test and three papers due the week I get back to Madison. None of the work is too grueling, but work is work. I have decided not to worry one bit about any of it this week, but I can't imagine most people are on the same page as me. I just don't want to deal with the stress. However, think about the kids who are in Florida soaking in the sun all week, having a few sodas, and meeting a few friends. They will come back on a plane or long car ride exhausted. They may have the times of their lives, but is it really a break. To be honest, break is all about what you make it. I just feel like tests, papers, and projects are a little unfair to be assigned right away afterward. These are just my thoughts.

-Woey

Spring Break!

Hey Everyone! Spring Break is right around the corner!

 

Whether you are going here:

 

Doing some of this for the week:

Or even maybe a little of this...

 

 

It will be nice to have a week off of school, a week out of the classroom, and hopefully a week back home!

Now that you don't have class for a week, do you find yourself on the computer more or less? Are you constantly checking your cell phone the same amount? Do you find yourself utilizing different types of social media with all your free time?

Let us know! And be sure to take lots of pictures for us !  

<3 Satie Klavin

Wikipedia Overload?

What percentage of the time do you think Wikipedia pops up on the first page of results when you enter a Google search? 100%? 95%? At least 3 quarters of the time, right? Actually no, its less than 50% according to a recent study.  The biggest reason Wikipedia doesn't appear more often is the types of searches being made.  There are two different kinds, "informational" and "transactional".  Of course Wikipedia dominates the results market in the informational category appearing on the first page 60% of the time but when it comes to transactional, people shopping for clothes, music, cars etc. they appear less than 40% of the time.  Yes, yes I know that these percentages are still pretty high for a single source, but relative to what the perception of Wikipedia on Google it is much lower. Wikipedia may not have the stranglehold on Google as people perceive, but none the less they are a powerhouse in the informative realm of the Internet and will be for decades to come.

Check out more about the study and its process here.
Wikipedia Study