The newspaper, something that nowadays seems to be a memory of the past. The internet was found as a better alternative for finding information. With so much content available to us, what is the best way to browse the internet and find the information that we care about? The answer is Reddit, an online social media and news sharing application as well as the best way to find content over the internet. Reddit is everything that the newspaper isn’t: timely, interactive, personalized, and absorbing. To be put simply, Reddit is a constantly updating list of all the most pertinent information to you. Clicking on to Reddit for the first time you will be met with what is called the front page of the internet. The front page is made up of a wall of links and text posted by other Reddit users called Redditors. The algorithms that are in place are more complicated than I can fully explain here, but a mathematical system is used to make sure everything in your feed is likely to be worth your time. The basic filter on Reddit comes from the ability to upvote and downvote posts that you see. The only posts that make it to the top have a high ratio upvotes to downvotes, meaning that it is confirmed that people generally find this post worth your time. One of the defining factors of Reddit to me is just how intuitive sifting through the infinite content is. Reddit is divided up into communities called subreddits which all work as independent versions of the front page but are specifically centered around a certain topic. As of January 2018, 1.2 million subreddits exist ranging anywhere from r/funny to r/sanfrancisco to r/communism. If you have an interest the chances that a subreddit exists for you, and if you have something new you have the ability to start your own subreddit. Once you are active on enough subs the front page becomes your own with posts being personalized towards you based off of your interests. Pulling up Google and typing “news” into the search bar doesn’t really cut it anymore because of how much you’ll be exposed to and how many things you actually care about. Why would anyone settle with the compromise of just flipping on a news channel when there are so many better alternatives that offer a much more valuable service? Reddit provides the best answer for how to browse the internet and get the content you need in a timely, personalized, interactive, and participatory matter. Once you start using Reddit and get used to it you’ll wonder how you ever interneted without it.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Galaxies
Galaxies are one of the most interesting things in space. They are all filled up with stars, planets, and dust. Did you know that you are made of star dust because our galaxy is filled with dust? Comets are falling on earth all the time spreading this dust. Galaxies, as you know are made of stars, planets, and dust. They flood the universe together. Every few light years, galaxies are seen. NASA even found a nearly habitable solar system in the Milky Way. It has a planet with plants, but they have not seen water, yet. Even if there was water the star is much too young and dim to live in. All galaxies keep their stars, planets, and star dust together with gravity. They keep these things because it is held together by gravity. Gravity is a galaxy’s best friend. Galaxies are huge and seem endless! Even after so much research and space travel, we still do not know where our galaxy ends. As you know we live in the Milky Way galaxy. Do you know that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy? A spiral galaxy looks like an octopus, with its “arms” swinging around. We live on one of the outer part of an “arm” in the Milky Way. There are three main kinds of galaxies. Spiral, irregular, and elliptical. An irregular galaxy is a galaxy with no proper shape. Hence the word irregular. A elliptical galaxy looks oval shaped, like an egg except flatter. It is important to classify galaxies’ features from each other. There are millions of galaxies in the universe, but we can only see so many, specifically three galaxies. People who are north of the equator see the Andromeda Galaxy. This galaxy will crash into our galaxy in a few million years. The Andromeda Galaxy has a weird gravitational force. Instead of getting pushed backwards like all other galaxies, because of the power of the Big Bang. On the south equator people can see the large and small Magellanic Clouds. Although not much is known about them scientists think these galaxies are two of the brightest galaxies in our universe. You can’t exactly see these three galaxies properly. They look like small, hazy patches of light. We need to research more about these galaxies and see if we find intelligent life. Galaxies have so many interesting facts about them. People have learned more about galaxies from 2015 than ever before! Galaxies are or one the most intriguing puzzle pieces to the biggest puzzle of all, the universe.
Saturday Newsletter: April 13, 2019
“The rosy color of dawn spreads all over the sky” Photograph by Julia Li, 12, Mason, OH Published September 2017 A note from William Rubel Friends! Jane Levi and I are both in Lengusaka, Kenya, at our friend’s camp. His name is Haile and the camp is called Haile’s Camp. We are here setting up a research station for studying pastoralism and the ecology of the Samburu lowlands. Our camp is under a canopy of acacia trees by a dry river bed. Monkeys live in the trees—very cute but also very mischievous! Thousands of birds live in the trees also, and as I write this a huge flock of small birds has arrived back at our trees from a day out foraging in the nearby mountains. Goats, sheep, chickens, and the household dog and cat roam the grounds. We are very far from home, but at the same time we are at a home away from home; I have been coming to this part of the world for 26 years. In the coming weeks we will have news for you regarding an exchange program we are setting up with a small, remote school (appropriately named Remote Primary School; it’s motto is “To be strong and focussed like a lion”) in the Samburu District’s Westgate Conservancy. Jane and I went to the ceremony for opening their new classroom building on Wednesday. I can say now that they don’t have any books, so we will be collecting books to bring to them when we return here in July. Details will follow. Good news! I have some really fabulous news to share with you. Our book agent for Asia has just sold the Chinese-language rights to our anthologies to Beijing Yutian Hangfen Books Company, the most prestigious Chinese publisher of foreign-language children’s books. Here is an article in the American professional magazine Publishers Weekly that tells you something about this company. We are going to use money from this rights sale to improve our website. Can’t wait to see the anthologies in Chinese! William’s Weekend Project For this Saturday project, I’d like you to write a poem that is 8–12 twelve lines. Don’t write anything today. Just live your day. When you are in bed, before going to sleep, think back on your day. What most stands out? Poetry is often exploring essence—the inner core of a thing. As you fall asleep, let what stood out from your day play in your mind. Feelings, thoughts, colors, sounds, images, music, words—let them all be tumble. Tomorrow, during the day, think back on those thoughts and let your words flow. As always, this writing project is for newsletter readers of all ages, but if you are 13 or younger, if you write something you are super pleased with, then please send it to our editor, Emma Wood, by going to the Submit link on our website. Follow the instructions for how to submit your poem. Until next week, William To celebrate National Poetry month we are offering a discount on the wonderful Stone Soup Book of Poetry, a collection of 120 poems published in Stone Soup between 1988 and 2011. Pick up print copies at 25% off, and eBook editions at half price in the Stone Soup Online Store, throughout April 2019. And, for more poetry ideas, don’t forget to visit the Academy of American Poets’ website–especially, check our their “Dear Poet” initiative. Our spring contest and partnership news Write for a podcast: Closing date April 15 Our current contest, in partnership with the By Kids, for Kids Story Time podcast, to write a short story about climate change or other environmental theme. Your work could become a dramatized reading, broadcast on the podcast, and be published in an issue of Stone Soup! All the details about entries and prizes are on our website contest pages. Summer writing mentorship program for 9th-graders and up: Application deadline April 15 We’ve partnered with The Adroit Journal, a literary magazine for teens. The applications for their Summer Mentorship program, which takes place from June to August, are open now. This program pairs young writers in grades 9 through 12 with an experienced writer who helps them learn more about the creative process. We know this is for an audience older than ours, but if you are a former reader or contributor, or know any teenagers who are aspiring writers, encourage them to apply! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Check out blogger Mirembe’s interview with Kid Beowulf: The Rise of El Cid author Alexis E. Fajardo! Here’s an excerpt: Mirembe: What was your process for writing the storyline and making the art? Alexis E. Fajardo: There are lots of different ways to make comics, and each cartoonist has their own method. For me, I like to write out full scripts that I then draw out. There are several stages to creating the art: pencils, inks, color, and letters. I pencil and ink on paper, after which I scan the artwork into the computer and color and letter digitally. I also have a colorist who helps me color the book. Comics are deceptively complex to make. It’s sort of like putting together a giant puzzle. From Stone Soup, September 2017 My Tenth Summer Part One: What I Learned About Hard Work By Zoe Lynch, 10 I’ve learned this week, Something I knew already But not well My mother, She sits at her desk. Typing. Writing. Scribbling furiously. I felt sorry for her. I thought she hated it. My father, He used to sit at his computer, Frowning. He’s good at numbers, But he’s tired My mom hates to build trails. He helped her. He learned. He’s still learning Everyone is. Me, I found two things, They are sort of one, Violin and poetry. They go hand in hand It takes a long time to do either I love projects We, Found something Something we loved to do As long as each of us are happy, We all are We work at our joys, Have fun, Daydream. Now I understand It. Makes. Sense
