Google Presentation

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegerankings/ss/top-colleges-for-harry-potter-fans_11.htm
THEY HAVE A HARRY POTTER CLUB AT WILLIAM AND MARY. It's like going to Hogwarts! You get sorted into houses, there are positions (professor of ancient runes, professor of arithmancy, etc.) and there's a house cup at the end of the year! It sounds AWESOME. 
http://web.utk.edu/~mfll/russian/
UT offers a study abroad program in Russia.  
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/William_Mary.htm
William and Mary accepts both ACT and SAT. 
https://www.wm.edu/admission/financialaid/typesofaid/scholarships/index.php
William and Mary offers at least 13 scholarships/financial aid. 

(I haven't finished my presentation yet.) 

Google Day #2

3 goals for the day: 

• To learn about what classes (that interest me) are available at University of Tennessee 
• to learn more about the admission process 
• scholarships 

http://catalog.utk.edu/content.php?catoid=1&navoid=104 

This is the link for courses available at University of Tennessee. They have a whole bunch of history of Africa courses. I don't know much about Africa so I think it would be interesting. They also have 122 anthropology classes which I've just recently become interested in. They have elementary and intermediate Russian. They have 462 history classes. This includes history of America, history of Tennessee (:D) medieval history, and much much more. 

http://catalog.utk.edu/content.php?catoid=1&navoid=313 

UT accepts either the SAT or ACT. (I'm going to take both.) 

Below is a list of credits you need to apply: 

4		units of English
2		units of algebra
1		unit of geometry, trigonometry, advanced math, or calculus
1		unit of advanced algebra and trigonometry, statistics, discrete mathematics with statistics and probability, pre-calculus,   calculus, capstone, senior math or quantitative decision making
3		units of natural science to include at least 2 units from Group A
		Group A: Biology I, II; Biology for Technology; Chemistry I, II; Earth Science; Physics; Principles of Technology I, II
		Group B: Anatomy and Physiology; Ecology; Environmental Science (AP only); Geology; Nutrition Science; Physical Science; Agriscience; Conceptual Physics
1		unit of American history
1		unit of European history, world history, or world geography
2		units of a single foreign language
1		unit of visual or performing arts  (Taken from website) http://finaid.utk.edu/aid/scholarships/  UT has over 1,400 scholarships accounts. They give $23,000,000 in scholarships every year and 4 year, one year, and renewable scholarships are given. You can apply for a scholarship no later than November 1st of your senior year in high school. Below are the scholarships offered for freshman: Chancellor's Scholarships Bonham Scholars Holt Scholars Manning Scholars Morris Scholars Neyland Scholars Oldham Scholars Rogers Scholars Roddy Scholars Tennessee Scholars Institutional Scholarships Volunteer Scholarship University Scholarship Tennessee Pledge Scholarship Achieve the Dream Grant Tennessee Promise Scholarship Presidential Scholarship Out-of-State Excellence Scholarship Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (HOPE)  (Taken from website)    Next class I would like to compare William and Mary to University of Tennessee in terms of the things I have learned so far. I would also like to learn about scholarships offered at William and Mary. http://web.utk.edu/~froshsem/seminars/detail.php?pk=2884 THEY HAVE A CLASS THAT TEACHES THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES ADDRESSED IN HARRY POTTER. IT'S A CLASS.:D :D :D :D :D (Although you don't get credits for taking the class, but it doesn't matter because a Harry Potter class is the coolest thing ever!)

Google Day #1

3 goals for the day: 
to learn more about the classes available at William and Mary 
to find out what study abroad programs they have 
to find out what the campus and surrounding town is like, where I would live, etc. 

What I learned: 
https://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/coursecatalschedules/catalogs/index.php
William and Mary has some really interesting history classes. I found a lot of the things I'm interested in like Russian history, Medieval Europe, Williamsburg (colonial and revolutionary history), Civil War era, and much more. They have creative writing classes (I'm mainly interested in fiction) and a modern fiction class. They have a ton of study of literature and writing classes but I'm not really sure which ones I'd like the best. They also have classes that teach Russian (I'd like to go to Russia someday) but they're all through video, which I'm not sure I like very much. 
http://www.wm.edu/as/modernlanguages/studyabroad/index.php
There's a 6 week program in St. Petersburg, Russia, to improve language skills. You live with Russian families and visit theaters, ballets, and operas. It sounds really cool! 
There's also a study abroad program in China, and I'm learning Chinese right now so that could be an option. Both programs look very interesting, one has an option to study martial arts and the other has options to visit places all over China. (Including Tibet!) 
http://www.wm.edu/offices/residencelife/oncampus/residencehalls/freshman/index.php
There are 13 freshman dorms at William and Mary. All of them are co-ed. All of them have 3 floors and/or a basement. (One has an attic.) All of them have less than 300 residents. Not all of them have air conditioning, which is not good for me. (Imagine how hot it would get during summer!)  That have kitchens and laundry rooms. 
I looked at pictures of the campus and it looks very out-doorsy, green, and pretty. Here are a few photos: 

 

Pretty, right? 

William and Mary is in Williamsburg, Virginia which is a colonial town. I have visited the town before and it's very interesting. People dress like the colonials and act out colonial culture and scenes. 

I learned that William and Mary is the second oldest higher education school in the U.S. (After Harvard) 

Apparently Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Taylor all went to school at William and Mary. 

Graduate programs are mainly in science, math, engineering, and technology. If I go to William and Mary I'd want to go as a graduate, but I don't particularly like any of those subjects. I want to go to a graduate school that has good classes and programs that focus on what I'm interested in. 

(Information above from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_William_%26_Mary) 

Next Google day I would like to research similar information but on the University of Tennessee. 

Viruses

What I know about viruses: 
I know that viruses are bad for your computer, and that they mess up how the computer works, but I don't really know what they do or how they get on your computer. 

Questions: 
How do viruses get on your computer? 
What types of viruses are there? 
What can a virus do to your computer? 

Helpful links: 
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Top-Ten-Most-Destructive-Computer-Viruses.html 
http://www.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm 
http://home.mcafee.com/virusinfo/top-viruses 
http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer/articles/computer-security-threats-computer-viruses 

8 Things I Learned: 

• There was a virus called the Conficker Virus which infected millions of people's computers that could steal financial and other information. Although it steals information no one actually knows what its original purpose was. 
• The Poison Ivy virus is extremely creepy. It allows the hacker to take complete control over the manipulated computer. The hacker can record audio and video, us the webcam, and manipulate the computer's content. It's scary. 
• a virus is a piece of software that attaches itself to other softwares, and when those softwares run the virus runs too, allowing it to spread and attach itself to more softwares. 
• Trojan Horses are computer programs that say they do one thing but actually do another. (i.e. pretends it's a game but actually damages your computer.) 
• I looked up top viruses tracked by McAfee and all of them were Trojan Horses and Viruses 
• A virus can find you if you share music, files, and photos with other people on the internet 
• Viruses can make you unable to do any internet activity, delete your files, damage programs, cause computer crashes, and reformat the hard drive of your computer. 
• computer viruses really started in the 1970s, even though theories had been made earlier 

How this topic relates to my life: 

     I use the computer all the time, and sometimes I click on things that I probably shouldn't. I'm sure I've clicked on Trojan Horses. By researching about viruses I can be more aware of what is safe and what I should stay away from on the computer. I learned a lot of things that I wasn't aware of before today. 

Questions I still have: 

Was the creeper virus the first ever virus invented? 

How much money is involved in the underground virus-making/hacking community? 

What was the Conficker Virus originally meant to do? 

How do viruses infect so many computers in such a short amount of time?