This opinion piece is about the New 2DS XL, and I think that it could replace the ChromeBook laptops that we have. First we look at them.

The ChromeBook mesures 11 and a half inches, shuts down when you close it, and is really heavy. Recently they added a big red sign out button. And the only fun thing about ChromeBooks are Control, Search, H. It makes a person on the screen turn a bluish-blackish color, like a black-colored Crayola marker.

The New 2DS XL, on the other hand, has more features without using extensions, like Loom or Audio Voice Recording Web App. It measures 6 inches, much smaller than the ChromeBook, maybe even half the size! It comes in color combinations like black and light blue. For example the students could tell the office which color they want on the first day of school. It comes with a sound recorder, but it records up to 10 seconds. From there, it can also act like a music player, so you can listen to music. And get this, you can listen to music with it closed. There is also a camera app that also records video up to 10 minutes. It also has a pedometer, so you can know how many steps you walked from the hall to the classroom, then add it up at the end of the day. It comes with a kart racing game to play in RTI or study hall, if you did all your work. And you can play with other kids! Now that’s something you can’t do with ChromeBook! (unless you are playing Academic SkillBuilders Swimming Otters) It even has a internet browser that WORKS!! The websites I’ve tried were Google, and this might be surprising, YT. But if you want to use YT, you have to request the mobile site to make it work. Yes, you can request mobile sites. There is a C-Stick on it next to four buttons right next to the screen. It’s grey. While a YT video is playing, you can move the C-Stick around and, get this, make a boring one-hour-long US History video funny. Nudge the C-Stick to the right or up, and the video gets faster and the sounds in the video get higher, like really squeaky sounding. When you nudge it to the left, or down, the video gets slower, and the sounds in the video get lower. The video plays on the top screen.

I might be able to try Google Docs on it, but I am not sure about it working. If it works, I would be so happy.

That’s what I know about the browser from my experience.

There is a app called game notes. To use game notes, tap the yellow pencil. You can go on this app while on another app, like the sound recorder. You can see the screen shots of the app you are using. Press the home button, and tap the pencil twice. Press the home button to go back. The colors you can use are red, blue, and black. You could be able to take notes on for example, ELA, or social studies. It makes scribbling sounds as you write. There are sixteen slots to write on. For example one of the four columns of well, four, you could use one column for one of the class periods. You could do science, ELA, math, and history/social studies. But you can’t do allied arts unless you do three per column for each class period, and have one per column on allied arts. You can clear the notes if you want. Trust me, you CAN do Punnett Squares from Science on it, but you can’t write an entire paper on game notes. Next, the Camera app. You can record videos and take photos. On this app there are multiple effects. For example you can take pictures of places on a field trip. And if something catches your attention and makes sounds, you can take a video of it. The camera is sort of good, but you can recognize the image. The pictures do look great.

Joshua woke up in the middle of the night in the forest of Maine. It was cold and there was still snow on the ground from the previous season. He was curious why he was all alone and how he got to where he was. All of the sudden, he heard gunshots in the distance. He follows a trail towards the sound. After traveling for about an hour, he hears and sees four adults.

“Hello!” Joshua yelled out from behind a tree in the distance as the adults pulled out their weapons. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Why are you here?” One of the adults asked Joshua in an Asian sounding voice.

“I woke up in the forest and I heard gunshots. I followed the sound and I got here.” Joshua replied as the adults put down their weapons.

The four adults allowed Joshua to sleep in their cabin for the night. Josh realized that the adults that he found were his high school ‘friends’ from the class of 1997 from Central High School. The next morning came and the adults introduced them to Joshua. “My name is Julian and these are my friends Violet, Steve, and Beth.”

“My name is Joshua, but I prefer to be called Josh. I know you from high school, all of us was part of the class of 1997.”

Julian took Josh for a walk and Josh was telling Julian how he went to sleep in his bed and woke up in the forest. After they stopped talking, they heard a gust of wind and all they could see was a single tree and its shadow. The two men wondered where they were and why they were there.

“Do you know where we are?” Josh asked Julian

Julian was about to ask Josh the same question. After five minutes in the field with a single tree, they found themselves back at their camp. Beth told Julian and Josh that they passed out and they carried them back to camp.

The night came fast, the electricity to the cabin went out and also the fire went out. It was pitch black outside. All the adults could see that everything had a shadow and there was no light, no moon, and even no stars. The night felt like it took one thousand years to be the next day. The next day finally came forth. The electricity came back on and it felt like a normal day once again.

“Where are we?” Josh finally asked.

“We are at wonderland campsite off the Stud Mill Road,” Steve answered Josh.

During the day, the adults were packing up to go back home in Saratoga Springs, New York. The ride to Saratoga Springs is about seven hours long. Josh was invited to go to New York with the other four. Instead of going to New York, Josh asked them if they could take him home in Newport, Maine. Julian and his friends decided to bring Josh to New York because they are going to Niagara Falls.

“Josh, do you want to go to New York with us because we are going to go to Niagara Falls tomorrow?” Violet asked Josh.

“I would love to go to Niagara falls with you, but I don’t have any money,” Josh told Violet.

Julian, Steve, Violet, and Beth disgust on if they will pay for Josh to go with them to Niagara Falls, “We will pay for you to come with us.” Steve said.

Seven hours later when they arrived in Saratoga Springs, New York, they all started to unpack from camping. With all five of them unpacking, it took them roughly a half an hour to unpack. After they unpacked from camping, they started packing for Niagara Falls. Josh didn’t have any clothes, so Julian allowed Josh to borrow clothes.

The next day came fast and they left for Niagara Falls at about 4:00 pm. From Saratoga Springs to Niagara Falls, it is about four hours long. Niagara Falls is near Buffalo, New York. When they arrived in Buffalo, they checked into a five-star hotel called Homewood Suites. The room they stayed in had two king size beds and a couch. Julian and Beth slept in the same bed because they were married, Steve and Violet slept in the other bed because they were also married, and poor Josh, he had to sleep on the couch.

The next day came and they were all excited to go to Niagara Falls. During the day, Josh and Steve went on a roller coaster called Niagara’s Coaster, and Beth, Julian, and Violet went to the upside-down house. All day long, everyone was having a fun day until night broke. It was about 11:00 pm, everyone went on The Maid of the Mist and when they got up to the falls, the lights that were shining on the falls went out, all the electricity went out, and the water going over the falls suddenly stopped. After everything happened, everything started to have a shadow like what happened back up in Maine.

“What the heck is going on!?” everyone started to yell out.

The captain of The Maid of the Mist came out because the intercom wasn’t working. “Don’t worry, everything and everyone is going to be okay. We are going to head back to the dock.”

When the boat got to the dock and everyone was off, everything got started back up. On the other hand, the people that were just on The Maid of the Mist couldn’t get back on, unless you pay to get back on. “We get off and everything is working again and we have to pay to get back on! That’s so RIDICULOUS and STUPID!” someone said off in the distance.

“Wherever we go next, we can’t do it during the night because the same thing will happen for the third time,” Beth stated.

The other four nodded their head in agreement. They all went back to the hotel for a good night’s rest. The next morning came and they went back to Saratoga Springs. When they got back home, there was a Newsboys concert in Lake George, New York. The only thing that was wrong is that the concert was at night. Because the concert was at night, they decided not to go to the concert. Besides, Josh got a phone call the next morning from his mom saying, “Where are you? You have been gone for a week now and your father and I are worried sick where you have been. You need to come home right now. For every hour that you are not home, you can’t leave the house for that number of days. If you’re not home before dinner time, your father and I are going to call the Police to find you.”

As soon as Josh hung up the phone with his mom, Julian made the seven-hour drive to Newport, Maine to bring Josh home. “My address is 124 Bunker Hill Rd,” Josh told Julian.

The three others that stayed in New York were sad that Josh had to go back home in Maine.

To Be Continued...

When Josh made it home in Newport, Maine, his mom was yelling up a storm. “Why were you gone and went to New York without me or your father knowing? And why would you go with someone you don’t know?”

“One thing, why are you yelling at me for? Also, I knew who I was going with. It was four friend from high school. They graduated with me.” Josh said.

“I can yell at you if I want to because I am your mother. I doesn’t matter if you know who it is, and you know that me and your father need to know where you are going.” Judy told Josh.

10 minutes later Josh’s dad Mike walked through the door in a calm voice like nothing happened. When he walked through, Judy started yelling at Mike, “Why are you talking in a calm voice when your son went all the way to New York without us knowing?”

“Josh, may you please go up to your room while me and your mother talk.” Mike asked Josh.

“Sure thing dad.” Josh replied to Mike

It took Mike and Judy an hour to talk about what happened to Josh. When Josh got to come back downstairs, Mike told his side of the story and Judy told her side of her story.

“You need to tell your stupid girlfriend that you can’t talk to er because we are taking your phone away from you for a month.” Judy told him.

“One thing, she isn’t stupid. And secondly, I can still see her at school.” Josh smirked back.

The next day came in a blink of an eye. Josh’s mom took away his phone as soon as he woke up. Josh went to school and told Tara - his girlfriend - that he got grounded for going with his friends to New York.

“So why did you get grounded again?” Tara questioned Josh.

“Long story short. I went with my friend to New York and my parents didn’t know about it and they got mad at me.” Josh replied.

“Well, you shouldn’t go anywhere without telling your parents. Maybe if you told your parents first, they probably wouldn’t care.” Tara replied.

“Well why do you even care Tara. This doesn’t even concern you.” Josh said while getting really angry at Tara.

“Josh, do you not understand?” Tara asked Josh with confusion. “I care for you Josh. I don’t like it when you loose your phone because that means I can’t text or call you about things.”

“Like what. What do you always want to talk about that is so important.” Josh replies with a really snarky tone.

“I’ve had enough Josh. I’m done with you talking to me like this. I’m breaking up with you.”

Tara storms off and runs to her friends which are standing on the other end of the hallway by Mr. Cario’s History class. Tara starts crying and just want to go home.

As soon as the bell rung througout the school, students start sunning out into the hallways like it is the end of the world. Josh goes to his locker and just runs out of the school and goes home.

“Why do girls so moody all the time?” Josh asks himself as he walks through the front door and slams the door behind him.

“Joshua! Don’t you know better. You know that we don’t slam the doors in this house.” Judy asked Josh. “And what do you mean that girls are moody?”

“If I wanted to talk about it, I would, and it wouldn’t be you.” Josh replies.

Yelling from the kitchen, Mike says, “Josh, don’t speak to your mother like that. Now go to your room now.”

Josh runs up the stairs to his room and slams the door behind him. “Why do parents have to be so moody too.” Josh hates girls now, with his girlfriend braking up with him for “no” reason according to Josh and having his phone taken away from him for “no” reason according to Josh again.

“Joshua! Come down here now. We need to talk.” Judy yells up the stairs.

“What do you want Judy?” Josh replies. Josh knows o never ever call his parents by their real name and call them mother and father or mom and dad.

“Get down here now. You already have your phone taken away from you for two weeks. If you come down like you were told to do, you will have it taken away for a week, not two weeks. On the other hand, if you don’t come down, you have your phone taken away for two weeks and maybe longer.” Judy said.

As soon as Josh heard those words come out of his mothers mouth, he bolted right down the stairs faster than the speed of light. “I sure don’t want to loose my phone for two weeks.” Josh said to his mom.

Josh, Judy, and Mike talked for awhile. But after they talked, they had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn for supper. After they had supper, it was like 8:00 pm. So, because it was late, they decided to go lay in their bed and relax for the night. The next day came quick. It was a typical Saturday morning. Judy had to leave for doctors appointment in Bangor.

“Josh. It’s time to wake up now. You need to come down and eat breakfast because your grandfather is coming to pick you up because you are going to spend the day at your grandparents today.” Judy said over the stairs.

“Yep, I will be down shortly.” Josh said in a tedious voice.

“Honey, are you ready for your first day of Chemo?” Mike asked Judy.

“I guess. Do you think we should tell Josh what is going on?” Judy asked Mike

“Sure. I was going to ask you the same thing.” Mike replied.

Five minutes have passed, then Josh comes down the stairs. “Josh, there is something me and your mother have been wanting to tell you for a while.” Mike said.

“And what is that exactly?” Josh asked.

“I have cancer.” Judy replied.

To Be Continued...

Could humans live on Mars? One day perhaps. But establishing settlements there would be a forbidding task.

The challenge of an unforgiving world.

A key step in the journey to Mars is to orbit it, which NASA hopes will happen in 2030’s. But landing surviving, and ultimately thriving on the red planet - with it’s low gravity level, seesawing temperatures, and nearly Oxygen-free atmosphere - present myriad issues for human colonists.

Solution for survival.

The more resources we find - or create - to make Mars habitable, the fewer we’d have to bring to Earth. Scientists are now (2016) studying to use what already exists on Mars. to establish a colony, humans would need to supply five (5) things: oxygen water, food, and energy.

Atmosphere.

Today mars has a atmospheric pressure of just 0.6% of Earth’s, which isn't enough to hold a body of water in place. A more robust atmosphere may of once supported large bodies of water, yet something - perhaps solar radiation, the impact of an asteroid, a change in the magnetic field - made oceans impossible.

Temperature.

Like Earth, Mars has days and nights, weather patterns,distinct seasons, and polar ice caps. But while it’s midlatitude can be temperate at times, it’s thin air and vast distance from the sun - one (1) martian orbit takes nearly two (2) Earth years to complete - makes it susceptible to wild temperature swings.

Volume and mass.

Mars planetary volume is 15% of Earth’s; it’s mass is 11%. According to the laws of Newton Physics, gravity on mars is about a third (1/3) of that on Earth. That means astronauts there could lose a lot of the skeletal and muscle mass they developed fighting Earth’s gravity. It also means that launching a spacecraft from Mars would take less energy.

Distance.

Earth lies near the inner edge of the solar system’s habitable zone, defined as the range of distances from a star, in this case the Sun, where a planet can sustain liquid (with enough atmospheric pressure to keep it in place). Mars sits within the habitable zone too, but closer to the outer edge.

Water.

1. Getting ground water.

In addition to the ice on Mars surface at high latitudes, there might be a great deal of frozen water within the soil closer to the planet’s equator. Microwaving the soil could melt and extract the water.

2. Extracting water from air.

Although the Martian air is more than ninety-five percent (95%) carbon dioxide, it does contain traces of water to harvest. Beds of a mineral called zeolite would extract moisture from the air. Once saturated, the beds could be microwaved to vaporize the water, which would be condensed, freezed, than stored as ice.

3. Hidden glaciers

Ground-penetrating radar from NASA’s Mars reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has revealed massive glaciers of frozen water preserved beneath rocky debris at much lower latitudes than where ice has been previously identified. These glaciers extend for dozens of miles.

Shelter.

Living in lava tubes. Lava tubes are cave-like conduits formed underground by cooled hardened lava after molten rocks has flowed through. Scientists say the ones on mars may be significantly larger than those on earth. The interior of the martian tubes, hidden under dozens of feet of solid rocks, are protected from cosmic and solar radiation and fluctuating temperatures on the harsh, dusty surface.

Oxygen.

Better breathing through chemistry. Scientist could collect the abundant carbon dioxide gas in Mars atmosphere, compress it, and use electricity to split its molecules into oxygen and carbon monoxide molecules. The oxygen would be tested for purity and stored, and the carbon monoxide would be vented back into the mars atmosphere.

Fuel.

Methane generators. A return on earth would require fuel production on Mars. the efficient Sabatier process combines carbon dioxide with hydrogen at high temperatures in the presence of a minkle catalyst to release C₄H (methane and water) Water molecules could be further be reduced in to H₂ and O₂.

Food.

Martin green houses. Ecologists have tested 14 plants in soil produced to match the chemical composition of martian soil, which contains all essential for plants to grow, including phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, and iron. But for plants on Mars to maintain the kind of growth shown at night, agronomists would need to engineer soil that is more water efficient and nitrogen rich.

Energy.

1. Power from the sun. Solar energy would be a logical resource for creating electricity on Mars. But harvesting Sunlight would be more difficult than on Earth, not only because of the planets distance from the Sun but also because of mars massive dust storms. So other power sources would need to be developed.
2. Portable power. Spacecraft and the precise scientific instruments they carry require safe, reliable, long-lasting power systems. One source that could generate the necessary juice is a nuclear battery - a radioisotope thermoelectric generator - that converts heat into electricity.
3. Nuclear power. NASA developed a power-producing system that could be used on many planets or asteroids. A fission (or fusion depending on what year) reactor in a nuclear reactor would produce electricity. Surrounded by a radiation shield, the reactor would be connect by a cable, delivering power at any time of day, under any atmospheric conditions.

Coms.

Point-to-point communication on Mars would be via radio waves. To avoid obstruction, signals would have to be beamed to orbital satellites and then relayed back to the ground.

On February 25 The mount washington observatory in conway New Hampshire they recorded the data for the wind storm that we had that afternoon. this wind speed set a record for the February wind speed. The (very sturdy) wind gauge atop 6,288-foot Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire registered an incredible 171 mph gust on Monday an all-time February record. This wind speed is more powerful than a category 5 hurricane. That broke the previous record of 166 mph set in february 1972.