Cortana, the Modernized Siri

http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/02/technology/mobile/microsoft-cortana/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

                Apple and Google both have their own personal assistants and Microsoft has finally gotten their own. Apple calls theirs Siri, Google calls theirs Google Now, and now Microsoft has one named Cortana. This “personal digital assistant” can do similar functions as Siri and Google Now such as set an alarm, search the Internet for something, tell you the weather, send messages, and place calls, but is has new functions that set it apart. Cortana has the ability to learn your personality and habits and predict what you are to do next. This can greatly improve the time required for Cortana to answer your questions. Another thing that Cortana can do is it can interact with other apps that you have on your device. It can use the information it gathers about you and send it to your apps. These apps can then adapt to your liking. Cortana is the newest and most advanced of “personal digital assistants”.

                Microsoft has finally caught up with the competition and has released their own personal helper. Siri and Google Now have been around for a while and it was a matter of time before Microsoft followed in their footsteps. It took Microsoft quite a while to catch up but their new assistant has outmatched the previous competition. Microsoft did not just copy Siri but they added their own new updated features which makes it more likeable and usable. Although it took Microsoft a while to release Cortana, it payed off because of their new updates and modern features.

The Ambition of Alex Rodriguez

            Alex Rodriguez may be one of the best baseball players of all time, but also one of the greatest cheaters of all time. Recently, Alex was caught taking many different types of PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs), many or all of which are banned by the MLB. He was originally sentenced to a 211 game suspension, which recently has been reduced to 162 games plus the postseason games in the 2014 season. Alex’s boss calls his PED program “The most potent and sophisticated program ever.” His PED usage was a very specific and spot on program developed by Anthony Bosch. He would take a certain drug at a specific time, so that it would help him in his game but not show up in tests after the game. He also ate “candy-like gummies” that would clear out his system of all the drugs he took earlier in the day. This program is truly one of the most sophisticated cheating programs ever seen in any major sport.

            Baseball is my favorite sport to watch and to play, and when I see this type of scandal come up it makes me wonder how clean the sport of baseball really is. It also makes me look at a player from a different perspective. Alex was, in my opinion, one of the best players to come through the sport, but now I am starting to wonder if his greatness was not achieved through fair methods, but by cheating. Alex most definitely had a ton of ambition throughout his whole life. To become a major league baseball player you have to be extremely dedicated. Alex had this dedication and ambition from when he was a kid all the way through his life. But when he started taking illegal PEDs, his ambition crossed the line. He wanted so badly to become a better baseball player that he put his whole career in jeopardy by cheating. I now see Alex Rodriguez in a different light, or maybe a in a darkness. I used to label him as a baseball star, but now I label him as a cheater. He disrespected the game of baseball, and all of those who participated in it. His ambition overtook his conscience and caused him to cheat, which has put a scar on his baseball career and on his life.

Article on Alex Rodriguez's PED Program

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/anti-doping-boss-calls-a-rod-program-potent-article-1.1580760

Alex Rodriguez with the Yankees

Anthony Bosch reveals Alex's drug program on 60 minutes

Ryan's Life

Hi, I'm Ryan Draper and I am 16 years old. I currently am a sophomore at Creighton Preparatory School. I am the middle child with an older sister who is a freshman at Creighton University and a brother who is a 7^th grader at St. Wenceslaus. We also have a dog named Bear.

Sports are a major part of my life. My favorite sports are baseball and golf, but I focus mainly on baseball. During the summer baseball takes up a lot of my time but in my free time I love tubing and jet skiing at Beaver Lake. We belong to Shadow Ridge Country Club and that is where I play most of my golf. I am also a huge Nebraska football and basketball fan. While most people in Omaha are Creighton fans, I stick out as a Husker fan. Although many think Creighton is better this year, which might be true, Nebraska will dominate the coming years and will become a major threat in winning the B1G. I am also a Dodgers baseball fan. I am also confident in them as they have a dominant lineup returning for the 2014-15 year.

Along with sports I am involved in many clubs and activities at Creighton Prep, with the biggest one being Operation Others. Operation Others is an organization that collects food, organizes it into boxes, and delivers the boxes to families in need. The delivery day this year was even more fun than last year and it feels great when you see a smiling face because of the food you delivered.

My life stays fairly busy with sports, clubs, and staying caught up with sports and social media. Twitter, Instagram, Vine, and Facebook are all fun social media sites that I fully participate in. These events keep my life interesting and fun.