Pump up the Volume!

No, sorry, I’m not going to discuss the handsome Christian Slater. I’m going to talk about Pandora. What’s so special about the first woman on earth according to Greek Mythology? Well…nothing right now because I mean Pandora.com!

Pandora is a radio on the internet that proudly calls itself the “Music Genome Project.” This radio station takes music you already like and introduces you to artists that have a similar sound. How many times have you fallen in love with a singer or band and wanted to find more music that sounds like them, but didn’t know where to start? Now you can start with Pandora.

When you go to the website you can try it out, but the good stuff comes with getting an account. By the way, it’s free! You’re able to create your own radio stations based on songs or artists. You can have 3 different radio stations and then use the quick mix function to rotate the songs played. When you here a song, you rate it by clicking on a thumbs up or a thumbs down. When you like the song, the radio station keeps it and continues to pull more music based on this song and the others you’ve listed. Best of all, your stations keep a list of songs you’ve rated (both good and bad), so you can go back and no which music you want to purchase later.

There are other radio station sites out there, such as:
http://www.accuradio.com/
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/stations/

You can find more by going to Google and using the keywords “internet radio.” I encourage you try it. You might be surprised at what you find.

Reader's Corner

As many of the staff are aware, I've been sending emails left and right asking for content for the Reader's Corner. Well, now is the time to see the fruits of your labor. The Reader's Corner is up on website. I've directly linked to it here, but you can also get there by going to the Reader's Corner portion of the website and clicking on the last link on the tab.

Learn what to read, check out the staff picks for books and videos, see what books fellow staff members have reviewed, and other resources.

We love feed back, so don't hesitate to give it. :-) And if you have any favorite books, YouTube videos, or book reviews you want to share, please send them my way.

Cyber bullying

Everyone should be aware of cyber bullying. What is it you ask? According to the website, Stop Bullying Now!:

"Cyber bullying, which is sometimes referred to as online social cruelty or electronic bullying, can involve: sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images; posting sensitive, private information about another person; pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad; intentionally excluding someone from an online group. Children and youth can cyberbully each other in many formats: E-mails, instant messaging, text, picture, or video messages sent on cell phones, Websites, blogs, Chat rooms or discussion groups, and other information communication technologies."

Some children are extremely susceptible to this kind of torment, and it can be very dangerous, even leading to suicide. For example, the case of Megan Meier.

For more information on Cyber Bullying, read these resources:

Book to read:

Frequently Asked Questions about Cyberbullying by Teri Brequet

Database to Search:

Opposing Viewpoints – contains excellent articles on this topic.

Websites to look at:

Stop Cyberbullying
Parent Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats
Cyberbullying.us