Politics Videos

My video




Group video

 

link to BufWiki page

http://buffalo.wikispot.org/Users/SamSmathers

BufWiki Reaction

In high school I was always told never to use Wikipedia because, any one can change the information. I would love to find those high school teachers and ask them if they would now allow the use of Wikipedia as a reference. I have found Wikipedia to become a useful tool when filling in missed notes from classes.

This was my first time making a web page besides our blogs in class. Coming up with a topic was my first struggle, what isn't on a wikki page now a days? I'm no where near computer smart so the project was a struggle trying to understand how to work with the picture programs. The most frustrating was trying to get the pictures where I wanted them on my wiki page. It was also a struggle with my work schedule to try and get out in enough day light to take pictures. I also had to use my GPS in finding the places I wanted to take pictures of. I learned what computer codes were, I originally thought it was something that had to get deciphered. I learned how to reformat pictures in the right sizes. While getting the pictures ready to post, I would randomly pick some numbers for the height and with and see if it looked good. I still do this I don't take pictures for any thing other than recreational use so the size to me is not important. Before making the BuffWiki page, I thought that pictures were just cut and pasted in a word document then the whole word document is transferred buy cutting and pasted in a word document then the whole word document is transferred buy cutting and pasting.

I never heard of BufWiki or WikiHow before this class. I think they are great sites, they let any one post any thing and therefore spreads knowladge. It's nice to know there are cites revolving around the city, it helps people become a part of the city instead of just a resident. My wiki pages belong on BuffWikki because it is about haunted places in Buffalo. They are relevant to Buffalo because all places are located in the Buffalo area.

BufWiki has many black headings from visiting, playing and dining. Under the headings there are blue links which will take you to a more specific category. If you choose any kind of destination it will give you locations, phone numbers, who the owner is, times they are open, as well as a link to their website, much like goggle maps. If you choose the link under media labeled newspapers it will list all of the surrounding newspapers available, when you click on the name of the news paper it will take you to the newspapers site. On BufWiki you can edit or create pages (it does have to get approved) and write a review about a place you have visited. BufWiki also has a section on the front page where it tells you how many pages have been created.

 

To communicate my Wiki page I posted pictures and all of the reference pages are links. Scene I just moved to town and don't know any thing about the Buffalo area, all of my information I got was from other sites. The most helpful was http://tonawanda-news.com/. All the information about “Mad Bear” was found on Mason Winfield site, http://www.masonwinfield.com/.

I thought the Wiki project was fun in the fact I got a chance to inform people about something that I was interested about. I just moved to the area and it was cool to learn something about the town. I'm looking forward to seeing what other new things that someone can do with technology. I think all three Wiki pages are good sources for information.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 Part One

Web 2.0 is people being able to interact with their electronic device instead of just reading information. It lets people give their opinions with sites like Facebook and blogs. With the birth of web 2.0 the computer has more of a personal touch when looking for information. Web 2.0 has allowed people to further their education with more college courses available online. You can share photos or videos, talk to people on the computer, watch movies, tag pictures. Software allowing people to highlight and take notes on the computer helps save trees. I think web 2.0's advances are endless. Some day we'll be able to scan bar codes with out phones and be able to purchase things. I think web 2.0 lives up to the hype. It lets people Skype and learn more information than before and sharing it with others. Because of web 2.0 it has made it easier for kids with autism to communicate with others. I also think that because of web 2.0 not much is personal any more. Phones, laptops ext. are being micro chipped with trackers. People are getting personal accounts hacked into or stolen. There are people who expose themselves using the internet. Web 2.0 has also caused crime to rise with piracy and plagiarism. More and more young people are becoming addicted to social media sites which cause them to become more withdrawn. It would be a neat experiment to disconnect people from electronics for 48 hrs and see how they react.

Web 2.0 Part Two

Web 2.0 is allowing people to communicate better in the form of videos, links, music files and photos. Every one who has seen a website know that the formats are more or less the same. All well made web pages have the same kind of Who, What, Where, Why and How. More information is being put out to the masses by any one who wants to contribute. It also gives some people a scene of belonging. Wikipedia for example is a mass database of information that people contribute to or edit. It also improves learning with online college classes or long distance learning classes. More public buildings are being equipped with wifi so it makes it easy to get free internet. With Public Libraries having more computers it makes it easy for any one to have access to the internet. Web 2.0 helps bring people together, some examples would be, dating sites, Myspace, Skype and Facebook. Web 2.0 also helps business just starting out by spreading the word. Some people don't realize that once you post or write something on the internet it is out there permanently. Web 2.0 has given way to new forms of press releases and media kits for public relations practitioners. With the use of links and attachments media kits are more accessible and allow for more information. Web 2.0 also allows for more advertizing which helps keep prices of items down with the competition.

 

Haunted places in Buffalo NY

The Riviera Theater located at 67 Webster st in North Tonawanda NY and it is visited by two apparitions according to the Tonawanda news on of a construction worker who fell off the roof during its construction in 1926. as well as Mary a 12 year old girl who died while preforming on stage.

                                                                       

Cardinal O'Hara's ghost has been seen in the former St. Peter's German Evangelical Church which is now known as the Tonawanda-Kenmore Historical Society scene the 19^th century. Passers by have tried giving this woman in a white flowing dress a ride but when they reach the destination there is no woman to be found. Miss O'Hara has also been seen near Del-Ton Plaza which is not far from the Historical Society.

Hanna Johnson also known as “Black Hanna” or “Aunt Hanna”. She was born into slavery but moved to North Tonawanda using the underground railroad. Hanna moved to 338 Sweeney st with John Chadawick man who's relation to her was unknown although he lived in a big house while Hanna lived in a shack just out side the woods behind the Chadawick house. When Hanna was alive all the kids and young women in town visited her regularly, she was the town story teller. Hanna passed away in 1883, she is now located at the Sweeney Cemetery the exact plot is unknown. When the cabin was gone wild flowers began growing in its place.

ElmLawn Cemetery in the early 1900's it was known as shell farm. Unexplainable.net says that you ca see orbs in the cemetery grounds between midnight and 3am. A woman and a man got married in the church that is on the grounds. The woman walked across the street and was hit by a carriage. Some people have said some nights you can see her ghost crossing the street.

                                                                                                           

There are rumors that at the Whitehaven Cemetery in Grand Island a head stone glows. There have also been reports of a man who died in the Gulf War and he is looking for his pregnant wife. At the Holiday Inn is right next to the cemetery where people say there is a young girl named Tanya who haunts it. Gusest say they hear her swimming in the pool and running around playfully

Tuscarora Wallace “mad bear” according to masonwinfeld.com is a Native American legend. It begins with a man who was on a first name basis with the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, JR and Ted Kennedy. One night he invited some friends over and served them a tea that had a potion in it which “mad bear” said helped him think. The concoction made some of his friends tired and made others hear things that weren't really there. It turns out that his friends were not loosing their minds,

Shea's Theater in Buffalo has said to be haunted by a friendly elderly man who dresses in a flannel shirt and has a white mustache. This mas asks if something is wonderful then he vanishes. Some say the man is Mr Shea. Shea's made to resemble European opera houses was opened in January 1926 and showed silent pictures.

Some people say you can see people appear in front of the windows and strange lights on where The Buffalo Psychiatric Center on Forest Ave which was finished in 1895. Down the road is the forest lawn cemetery first opened in 1849 giving tours to see head stones of John Albright Millard Fillmore and others. Some say that the cemetery is haunted by an Indian chief. There were also a lot of fighters in the civil war are buried there. The spirit of Red Jacket, a Seneca Indian who passed in 1830. The location of his remains is questionable some say they were taken from Forest Lawn to the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation some don't think they were moved at all. It is believed that in 1812 the area was used for mass graves that held casualties from the war.

Employees at the Iron Triangle Museum say objects like to move by themselves and they hear unidentifiable noises. The sounds of kids playing can be heard in one of the rooms. An orb can be seen near a church alter that was donated to the museum.

Buffalo's Old Central Train Terminal was finished in June of 1929 The show Ghost Hunters visited the terminal where they saw full body shadows they also say that they can hear a female cry for help coming from an elevator shaft. The Ghost Hunters recorded some unexplained voices.

The ships at the military park at Buffalo Place may be haunted. The Sullivans are five brothers who are believed to be some of the ghosts who haunt the USS Juneau after it was sunk by the Japanese in 1942. The USS Juneau was later moved to Buffalo NY in 1977. Some visitors say they feel their ankles being grabbed at as they walk around the ship.

The Summit Mansion according to the paranormalghostsociety.org used to be part of the underground rail road. Some visitors at the old tavern across the street see figures in the windows. They also say that the slaves that lived here were unhappy with their lifestyle. Because of this unhappiness the slaves slowly went insane and killed the family and then turned on each other. In the 1990's there was some restoration going on but it was never finished, the contractors got spooked and left. The Manson is abandoned but tightly locked up, people who feel the presence of spirits always say they are not nice fuzzy ones. The Mansion also goes by Hitchings House or Mount Providence.

Melody Fair Theater once featured artists like Sonny and Chear, Johnny Cash,Tom Jones and Bill Cosbey. It was destroyed in May 2010.

                                

The web site nthistorymuseum.org says that in the early 1900's Goundry Street was a nice street it had a red brick road, many small lumber companies and with those lumber companies came houses with fancy wood work. Many houses had large front windows and balconies.

The De Graff House was built between 1882 and 1884 was built by James De Graff a bank president. The house had the first indoor pluming and an elevator in the area. James donated the land for the building of the hospital in the memory of his parents.

In the Fall of 1890 located on 170 Schenck St was The Evangelical Friends Church which was finished being built in the town of North Tonawanda in, 2001 it became the Starry Night Theater also called Ghostlight Theater. The church was built for German immigrants that were separated by the building of the Erie Canal.

Referances

1. Tonawanda-News.com
2. reeddj.wordpress.com
3. niagarafallsundergroundrailroad.org
4. niagara-gazette.com
5. masonwinfeld.com
6. http://www.unexplainable.net
7. nthistorymuseum.org
8. GhostHunters.com
9. paranormalghostsociety.org

Its like learning how to ride a bike

The first time I used the internet it was in middle school. I was in the library talking to my friend Mandy who was on the computer. The librarian told me I either had to get on the computer or leave. Since Mandy was my best friend I wanted to stay. I wheeled my chair next to Mandy and stared at it blankly. Mandy had asked if I knew my log-in information, I just shrugged not knowing if I had to talk to the school to get one or if I already had one and didn't know it. She let me use her log-in name and password, I was so excited to be using this new contraption. So I'm logged in and had no clue what to do. Feeling stupid I asked Mandy what I should do, I didn't even know how to pull up the internet window. She pulled up the window and I started looking for pictures of animals just to pass the time. Other than that no one really taught me how to use the computer so most of my computer knowledge is self taught. Even now when I get pop up's asking for directions I just click an option and hope for the best.

 

Looking back on that moment I can't help but laugh. I got my first laptop in 2005 and I've been on it every day since. When I first moved out on my own and got an internet hook up I spent hours on You Tube looking up random music videos for hours and thought it was better than TV. I don't watch much TV but when I do its either music videos, documentaries or some sort of news program. I think the internet is wonderful and everyone should have access to it. I don't have cable but who needs cable now when there are sites like hulu and nextflix. With sites like facebook it seams no one E-mails any more because everyone is using Facebook to communicate. Facebook has allowed me to keep in-contact with family and friends out of state or even different countries.

I think that with the growth of technology people are not as personal as they used to be and their spelling has suffered with all of the short hand terms and abbreviations like “lol”, “bff” and “omg”. This year was the first time I did the vast majority of Christmas shopping online. It was so covenant to not have to have to deal with the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping at the stores. Or, worst yet the mall. I work nights so I sleep during the day and by the time I wake up a lot of places are closing for the day. I also pay most of my bills online. I work full time and go to school full time so the internet with out a doubt has made my life a lot less stressful. Now I wouldn't know where I would be without it.