Covered Bridges in Lyndonville

View Covered Bridges of Lyndonville, Vermont in a larger map

Story:

Covered bridges have been around for many years, they have been used to help keep animals and people out of the rain during a storm. They also are used by the wildlife such as flocks of turkeys to get out of the elements. Covered bridges have became a thing of the past, they aren't built anymore and have become a rare entity in today's world. Most covered bridges have been either destroyed or are rotting away in the woods or a swamp.

Lyndonville was one of the few towns which took the intiative to save these great pieces of architecture. These bridges can tell so many stories without saying anything on them. People come from all over the NorthEast to catch a glimpse of these incredible bridges. Possibly the most impressive of all the covered bridges is the Millers Run Bridge because it is the only bridge in all of Vermont that is still part of the State Highway System in Vermont which is an incredible feat considering it was first created in 1878, and still is around for the rest of us to use over a 130 years later.

The reason I did this project on these bridges is because I have cousins whom live in Colorado and they visit only around once every 6 or 7 years. The last time they came up was this past summer, while they were up I was suprised at the fact that they wanted to see the covered bridges. I have always looked right past the covered bridges because I see them everyday. My cousins how ever were instantly taken in by the bridges and how amazingly crafted they were. My oldest cousin Nick who is 22 now, is trying to become an architect so he loved seeing how the old bridges were put together. After seeing how amazed and enthusiastic he was it brought back an interest of the bridges for me. I honestly have never researched or learned about the bridges, but I have now and am surely glad I did this project.

Tropical Storm Irene Aftermath Video

Hurricane Irene occurred on August 28th, 2011 it completely destroyed the Northeast, but in particular Vermont. It was the first major storm to slam into the region in quite a few years. It did a considerable amount of damage to the state of Vermont. It washed out roads and completely destroyed some people's homes and in some cases their towns. The overall damage caused by this storm is in excess of 700 million dollars, every single river and stream in this state suffered from severe flooding due to the storm.
Tropical Storm Irene is only the second Tropical Storm to ever hit Vermont the other occurred in 1938. Sadly, during the storm some of Vermont's most prized artifacts were swept away such as the covered bridges which Vermont had become very famous for having. Towns such as Killington were completely blocked from contact from outside sources for about two weeks, and the total death toll within the state of Vermont was three. Rural towns in Vermont that were completely shut off from help were given supplies via helicopter because that was the only possible way to make contact with them.
Although when times are tough the best in people tends to come out as well. For example, the Phish benefit concert which all money raised was given to the victims of the storm. Phish is a Vermont born band and even though they have become national stars they haven't forgotten their roots in Vermont and showed their appreciation with the benefit concert. Another band which helped Vermonters by hosting a benefit concert was the band out of Waitsfield, Vermont, and that is Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
At the end of the storm everyone was affected to a certain extent some much more than others. For example, I was not personally devastated by the storm due to the fact that our home is located on a hill and the town of Lyndon wasn't completely demolished. Yet, the logging trails in which we use frequently were completely washed out and are unusable at this time. On the flip side would be my friend Ian whos house is located directly beside the river, and was flooded very severely. The water completely filled his entire basement as well flood around two feet of water into their first floor.

Video Project Idea

For the video project our group will be video taping the Islam debate this thursday. We will provide people with the jist of what the debate was about and why the debate is being held. It will have audio from multiple different people that are attending the debate.

Story for Slideshow

    Changing a tire is an experience everyone will face at some point in their life, and if you don't know how to do it yourself you can have some problems. I have heard some horror stories about people attempting to change a tire and I will tell you some of these stories.
    One of my good friends Ryan was out mudding his truck during mud season in early spring. It was a usual day of mudding we have gone out to that area multiple times to go mudding, but on this particular day he went out by himself. He was going through a stretch of mud when all of a sudden the right side of his truck dropped right down and he came to an immediate halt. He got out of his truck and looked at his passenger side front tire and what he saw was his tire had came off the bead. So he needed to put his spare tire on and that is where the problem began. He had all the proper equipment to do it but he was in a foot of mud and his jack would just sink to the bottom every time he attempted to jack his front end up. He realized he wasn't going to get out of there himself, he was going to need some help. Where he was mudding had no cellphone service so he had to walk out of the woods and call a tow truck service, and he had to make sure they had a 4 wheel drive wrecker. He got ahold of them and luckily for him where he got stuck there was a road that made it easy for the wrecker to get to him, but the wrecker had to drive 25 minutes just to get to him. Ultimately he was charged 100 dollars just to have the wrecker pull him out, because they winched his truck up onto the flatbed and drove to a flat place and unloaded it so he could change his tire. He learned a great lesson that day, he learned to make sure to check his tires before he goes out mudding.
    Changing your tire is vital knowledge especially if you are by yourself and are out of range of other people. Although as my friend Ryan found out theres times where you have no choice, but to try to find help he had a situation that required the services of a wrecker. I myself have been in a situation like that, but it wasn't over a flat tire.

IReport Critique

Tear Gas in Oakland
This was the first video I watched and I enjoyed the video because it shows what is truly happening in Oakland and how upset people are about what is happening in this country. It is surely news because it shows how upset some of are fellow citizens are and what they are facing. The teargas being shot into the crowds really shows you the severity of the problem. I don't believe I could do better because I don't see lyndonville having a riot like this anytime soon.

Hurricane Rina
This was a picture of the Hurricane moving in on the United States. I believe this is surely news because a natural disaster is always possible when a hurricane is involved. It is interesting because the picture shows how the hurricane produces a wall of darkness in the sky and looks like it will be a strong hurricane. If I was a CNN reporter I believe the photo could help to show that the hurricane is coming. I don't think I could do better because I have never seen a storm that looks quite like that.

Protests in Athens
This showed the problems athens was facing and the uproar the citizens were having in that area. It is interesting because it shows that oakland is not the only place where citizens are fed up and fighting back, tear gas was also used in Athens as a form of crows control. If I was a producer I would surely use this because it shows the severity of the problem in athens. I couldn't do better because yet again I have never seen a riot before.

Synopsis for slideshow

For my slideshow project I will be doing how to chane a tire on a vehicle. I will show each step that goes into changing a tire. I will also incorporate narration to help people better understand each picture that is on the slide show. I will show them to properly loosen the lug nuts, which spots on the vehicle are proper places to place a jack, and I will also show them how to correctly tighten lugnuts and what order to tighten them in. I will also show people what kind of jack should be used for each kind of vehicle, because if you use to small of a jack then your vehicle could ultimately collapse the jack and that could cause alot of bad things to occur. I will also show them where to properly place the jack stands under the vehicle so that you have something else to support the vehicle besides the hydraulic jack, because once in a while those can fail.Overall my project will be to show how to properly and safely change a vehicle tire.

Slideshow Critiques

http://www.slideroll.com/slideshows/members/petrepan/show/taurus-405-2/
I enjoyed this slideshow because it showed all the key parts of the gun and what size bullet the gun takes. On the other hand it could have been a little longer and more in depth about the dimensions and actual size of the gun.

http://photopeach.com/ (Polar bear project)
I liked the amount of photos that was imbedded within the slideshow, I also liked how it showed all the animals that are in their dog sledding video it gives you a great visual as to the amount of animals this person has. I also like how it described what was happening in each of the pictures and showing what kind of natural elements they face.

http://photobucket.com/images/black%20and%20white/
There is a lot of great photos within this gallery and they are very well done. Although it doesn't appear all the pictures were actually taken by the uploader and that they just took photos and turned them into black and white on photo shop.

Overall:
I feel that slideshows are a much better tool for storytelling because each picture plays right infront of you and they normally have a certain order that they go in to make the story more realistic. Also, the addition of sound to a slideshow greatly improves how appealing the slideshow is especially if there is someone narrating because you feel like you are watching a t.v. show, but instead its just pictures. In my opinion slideshows work much better at conveying pictures.

Podcast Story

Podcast Team: Heather, Morgan, Richard, and Taylor

Story: Best Ways to Survive College
    Typically the first thought that runs through a freshman's head is how am I going to survive college? The world of college is completely different than high school, they may no longer be nestled underneath their parents wing and will be out on their own for the first time.
    One of the best ways to survive college is to be outgoing and meet new people, once you have met new people you will begin to enter a comfort zone at college. The best place to start is in your dorm, getting to know everyone on your floor will make your dorm feel more like home when you return from class.
    Secondly, keep up to date on your homework and class, don't miss too many classes. Once you get behind in a class it can be difficult to catch up, because in college the homework will continue to pile up and it doesn't slow down just because you aren't caught up. Also, talking to your professors about when you are unsure of something or need help is a great thing to do, because normally a professor will be more than willing to help you out.
    Next, don't burn yourself out from studying too much, give yourself time for yourself and other activities. If you spend all day at class and then spend the rest of the night studying, you will go insane by midterms. Getting yourself involved in extra-curricular activities within your school is the best way to balance your social and academic life while in college.
    Sleep is a vitally important part of surviving college, it allows you to function properly but if you can't find time for the proper amount of sleep then naps are necessary. "Naps are excellent, they help recharge your batteries and get you through cram sessions and nights when you don't have time to sleep properly." Infychu, Plurk.com
    Partying is something that happens at every college nation wide, and every college student at some point will be involved in this. The most important thing is to not let this get involved with your academic life; partying is great for your social life, but can be detrimental to your academics. A lot of college students see their downfall from excessive partying and see the aftermath once they receive their report card.
     Surviving college is something everyone wants to do, they want to have fun at college but ultimately want to leave with a degree. Maintaining a grip on both your academic life and social life is the key to having a successful college career. Don't burn your self out studying all day, but also don't spend all your time away from the classroom and your homework (I know it can be easy to push homework aside).
  
 

Podcast

Joe Rogans Podcast-
I added Joe's podcast because he has great intellectual ability, and he also talks about a lot of funny things because he is also a stand up comedian. He has a great way of talking about politics and I like how he is politically incorrect all the time.
UFC Podcast:
I am a huge fan of the UFC and also their podcast. They will talk about upcoming main event fights they are going to have, as well as have some of the fighters that are going to be in their next evevent and allow them to talk about their upcoming opponent.
Stuff you should know podcast:
This is a great podcast because it brings up all these very interesting facts that you never would have known otherwise, but once you are told it you feel like you should have. It is a very interesting podcast and it will teach you all kinds of little factoids.

I didn't add any of them to my ipod because I don't have one, but I still can listen to them on the computer and I reccomend them.

Interactive Map

Link: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203498851386484787647.0004add8c8c6ad6c7e8ca

Story: We looked at eight restaurants within the St,Johnsbury Area. Overall, we looked at our favorite restaurants within that area. What we found was actually very suprising, because some of our favorite restaurants had suprisingly low health scores. While, others that we looked at that we normally would think to have a low health score were actaully some of the highest ones. One restaurant that I was totally suprised by was Kentucky Fried Chicken, the reason that is, is because I distinctly remember back a few years ago when the health department went there and actually completely shut down the place because there was so many health violations. They were closed for an entire month and had to undergo and entire over haul to be able to pass inspection, and now their health score is actually one of the higher ones in the town if St. Johnsbury. Another, one that also shocked the group was that the McDonalds within St. Johnsbury also had a respectable health score, while a few years ago they had bugs and other small types of insects and animals that found their way into customers drinks, it was almost the complete end of that McDonalds, but it goes to show that the health department is fairly leinient and will allow you to correct your mistakes.

Quote: "If your restaurant has a low health number, it is going to plunder"

Interactive Map

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

CBS vs. Fox

When CBS writes a story they write it short and sweet which allows the reader to not get side tracked and or bored during the story. Fox has a much longer story yet they are able to keep you interested with the way they wrtie their story. Atleast for me I believe Fox has a better writing style because I like stories that are full of detail and I have no problem reading extra.
Fox has the better video system because it is simple and easy and they appear to have a video for a good portion of their stories which is nice. While CBS also has videos and they have a symbol beside stories that do, Fox is able to pull it off a lot better then CBS.
But when it comes to local news, CBS atlanta is much better than Fox. Fox doesn't even appear to have any sort of local news, while CBS atlanta appears to have much more about whats happening in their local area.
By looking at each site and the content within, I would have to say that Fox News has a much bigger staff because they have stories from all over, while a lot of CBS atlanta is local.

NSN Sports Critique

The first thing I noticed when I logged into NSN Sports was the drop down bar at the top which is very helpful in picking out which sport you want to look at and whether it is a college of highschool sport. Another thing I really liked is as soon as you log in there is a list on the right hand side of any upcoming game that NSN will cover, I think that is very useful because there is a lot of people that will want to go and watch the gams. Also, when you are looking for a video of a certain game they make it easy for you to look up the video by just typing the school name in search bar and the date the game was played and it will pop right up. NSN Sports has a fair amount of advertising on its main page, but its done in a way that doesn't interfere with the user, because some websites have advertisements that will just randomly pop out at you or is placed directly in the center of the page. I like how the advertisements are located either on the very top of the page on the right hand side or the bottom, because it doesn't affect the user at all when the are using the site.

Lead In Assignment

John Baker, 59 died after suffering a fatal heartattack. He suffered this heartattack after a woman crashed her car into the restraunt he was dining in.

Ticonderoga County School system will be shutting down it's cafeteria that ultimately serves its special needs students. It is an effort to help keep their costs to a minimum.

In Class Summary #2

Ten Commandments Legal Battle:
Officials from the Ticonderoga County Courthouse are fighting a legal battle to keep the Ten Commandments posted inside the courthouse. They lost the first round in the federal battle, but haven't given up yet and will continue to try and keep the Ten Commandments displayed.

In Class Summary

Ticket For Dog Biting:
Midville Police Department say a dog with a previous history attacked a small six year old child, and bit him around the ear and neck. Gordy Jamison is the owner of the dog and was issued a citation for having a vicious dog.

CBS Atlanta Critique

My first reaction when looking at the CBS Atlanta website is I like the fact how it has the subject bar at the top which allows you to choose which kind of news your interested in looking at. Also, they have a great setup by having pictures when you first log into the site it helps keep your interest. I think it is smart how they have the camera logo beneath stories that have a video to go along with it, I believe that gives the reader more incentive to read the story. CBS Atlanta covers a wide variety of topics from local to international which is good because in today's world it is difficult to be successful majoring in one single subject such as local news only. The only real problem I see with the site is how it gets fairly congested about halfway down with all the news articles there and that alone will stop a reader from reading through all the article titles.

Blog Critique of Autosblog.com

Hey this is Taylor Cota, I recently looked into autosblog.com and it detailed lots of great information about multiple kinds of foreign cars, but my question is where are the american vehicles? The blog itself acts as if it has a large quantity of vehicles from every known autodealer. Although it does feature some american vehicles its main purpose is of the foreign market; all the reviews on the main page are aimed towards volkswagon, BMW, Ferrari etc.. but there is plenty of new american vehicles with the exact same quality as these rigs that could have been exposed on the front page as well. My main criticism is the fact that the website infers that it blogs about auto vehicles, which in my mind would mean that it would give fair reviews for each car manufacturer. In all honestly it should be renamed to foreignautoblogs.com due to the unfair advantage it gives to the foreign manufacturer's while leaving the american brands in the dust. Though I have nothing against foreign automobiles, I just have a fascination for American vehicles and believe that they should be allowed the same amount of spotlight as any other car maufacturer. Other than that the blog is very well set up and provides the reader with plenty of information about the type of rig you are lookin for. It is simple to find what you are looking for and provides multiple different types of multimedia, from videos, to testimonials, to personal opinion blogs put up by readers. It is a great blog if your looking into vehicles specifically brand new ones and especially if you are looking for a new foreign vehicle.