Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Give us your suggestions!

*Too long? Don't want to read anything? Here's the link.

Today, I'm here to present something that I've always wanted to add to SkyAkes, a suggestions feature. The biggest problem I've found in managing and writing this blog is that writer's block can be pretty uncooperative when it's 3:00 AM on a school day. In order to remedy this and add a feature to allow you, the readers, to become more interactive with this blog, I've decided to add a "article request-ation" form at a cool site called "Papyrs".

Here are some of the writer's blocks I talk about. Dang them and their weight!

Pretty much, the idea is that you, the reader, can ask us to cover any topic your little heart desires, and we'll consider writing about it. (If you want an article musing the ideas of string theory and Q-balls, we may reconsider) Along with that, this will allow us to concentrate on the topics that you guys really care about, and less on things like "fun facts about your toes" that I sometimes resort to.

The horror!

In order to satisfy your irrational suspicion that we're simply trying to steal your one million dollar ideas, feel free to leave your name in one of the provided boxes, and we'll gladly credit you for the idea. However, you can remain anonymous if you wish.

Without further ado, here's the article request-ation link

Saturday, April 14, 2012

3 Common Misconceptions About Brushing Your Teeth

Thanks to the fact that teeth-brushing is a home-taught practice, there are many misconceptions circulating about brushing one's teeth. Along with modern society's pressure to fit in with everyone else, oral hygiene or "how bright your teeth look", has become a prominent variable for the everyday man/woman to judge a person's character despite it's shallow implications. Therefore, we must address the most common misconceptions that people have about brushing their teeth in order to help indulge such thought pattern and achieve "buzz-worthy" attention. Anyways, here's your article:

Look, teeth. Now give us your money.

3. The more you brush your teeth, the merrier.


This common misconception lies in the concept of "if you clean something twice, it'll be cleaner than if you cleaned it once." While true to a limited aspect, brushing your teeth rigorously eight times a day or every time until you can taste your natural saliva again is not generally a good idea. The thing about brushing your teeth is that it's not a magical wand that you can simply wave at your teeth and only expect positive things. Think of this analogy, if you keep mopping your brand new wood floor, your floor is eventually going to collapse.

And everyone you've ever known will die. This is shaping up to be a bad analogy.

The thing is, excessive brushing can lead to other, more serious oral complications. For example, by brushing your teeth religiously, you risk irritating your gums to the point of exposing the roots of your teeth. Along with that, by brushing like a crazed manic, you also risk destroying your teeth enamel, and therefore your teeth itself. Everyone knows that your teeth are among the strongest bones in your body, most if not all of that strength comes from the enamel. By continuing a practice of excessively hard brushing, you could scrape away at the enamel like a waxed floor in a congressman's living room.
Friday, April 13, 2012

Most Common Advertising Tricks In Modern Media

Regardless of your medium of entertainment, you'll find that advertisements are almost everywhere you look; in fact, this page alone has at least one. With advertisements so evident in modern lifestyle, isn't it about time we actually take a look at what these advertisements really advertise? Shouldn't we ask ourselves if the heads behind the mass media are actual dummies that simply prance around with directors as they pump out the same short fifteen second clip with different products everyday?

"They're on to us!" - The heads behind mass media

Maybe things aren't as jolly and flowery as we thought they were. Perhaps, advertisements used actual psychology from many fields to manipulate you to buy products everyday. Below, we'll discuss two of the most common advertising tricks that you probably fall for everyday. (With the aided use of hyperboles! Hurray you!)
Wednesday, April 11, 2012

3 Important Things To Do In A Fight

We've all gotten in a physical one-on-one fight before, right? Regardless of you being the person dealing the punches, or the one receiving all the pain, I think it's safe to say that we've all seen humanity's tendency towards conflict. Due to this, it would be an exceptional time to discuss three very important fundamentals that everyone should know before entering a fight. While you won't suddenly become the Bruce Lee in the battlefield after reading this article, it'll certainly help you get started.

At very least, it'll help you get 4.6% less dominated in the arena.

3. Curl your thumbs on the side of your fist (aka. Remember how to form a fist)

One of the most important thing you can do in a fight is to make sure your tools of fighting are in proper condition, before throwing the first punching. While we're sure that you have enough common sense to not fight someone if your hands are bandaged up from a severe chainsaw accident resulting in the lost of all your fingers, there are some precautions to take for everyone that are vital to the resultant fight. The first thing you can do is to curl your thumbs on the side of your curled fingers. (Consult below image if the your visual brain centers of your brain fail you)

Feel free to angrily shake your fist as such to celebrate such accomplishment.

Piracy: Who's the real thief?

Ever since computers were made available to the public, software pirates made and distributed copies of software, and in some cases illegally sold their copies. With pirated copies being available much easier then ever before because of the internet, we must ask ourselves: Should we put an end to piracy to protect our software? Unfortunately, there are a few problems with just ending piracy. Not all pirates are thieves. The following examples explain who is a pirate, who is actually a thief.


1. One reason why you might pirate a video game is because the price is too high, and you are unable to afford to pay $60 every time a new game is released. Since software publishers claim that a download is a lost sale, it does not apply to those who cannot afford the software. Also, even if it was a lost sale, it wouldn't make much of a difference.