This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on December 4th, 2007. I wrote about my knowledge of domains and websites at that time.

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How to Go Big

big, Big, BIG! These are the words people speak in anticipation of making their site “go big”. When I say site, I mean domain. A domain is the name of the site somebody wishes to own/host. For example, apple.com is a domain name. This name must be bought it in order to own that site and try to make everyone come. How does a site come up first when people search on google? How do people hear of a site? Where are they coming from? Why do certain sites have a higher “google page rank” than others? It starts now.

“Linking” refers to when another person (Owner of another domain) likes a domain/site and wishes to help it out. They go to their database management and puts the site’s link, to help bring traffic to the given site. That is the simplest way of explaining it. Of course, this means there are lots of ways people can “cheat” the system or get away without following the rules for a period of time. A given site can contact the owner of other sites, and tell them that they will do an exchange. “I will link you if you link me”. There are also programs or hacks/exploits that will automatically pretend a site has lots and lots of links from other people. However, google being who they are and how rich they are, they can easily track a site down in a couple months. That site will then be banned permanently from any google access, such as adsense ads, indexing, etc. Thus it is not a very good trade-off, furthermore it is illegal. So, if you wondered why certain sites come up first on google search, this is just one of the many reasons.

Another factor of “going big”, is SEO. This is very similar to Linking, but not quite. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Depending on what type of site is being run, there are different ways of doing and obtaining SEO. I will give an example with the one that I know best: forums. In a forum, people post threads and reply to others’ threads. Generally this leads to content in a forum. Say there is a forum about politics. People will discuss the regular updates from political parties and other related subjects. What SEO does is it saves those threads and posts that people have generated on the forum, and comes back to Link that site with its own content. This is very helpful, because another factor of getting on the first page of google is a site’s content. If there is a forum about politics, it will want to be on the first page when people search “politics” on google. So SEO really is helpful, because it acts like other political sites are linking it. Consequently it looks very good if other political sites that are competing with it, supposedly think it is an excellent site. SEO is a completely legal process, so therefore there is no harm in it.

The final factor that I am going to mention is the actual domain name that is being used. First off, if a person works very hard and does all the steps correctly, there is always a chance to “go big” no matter what the name of his/her domain is. Now, there is a value in every name, depending on several things. Let’s take this example: High School. So you want to make your site about High School very large and popular so as to bring more students in? The number one rule in my book, and many others, is to never get a domain that is “.net” or “.info” etc. The “.com” is of three times as much worth and easier to get a site prodigious. A person would not want to buy a domain that is cokeisgood.com, because that has no relation what-so-ever to High School. Therefore the person should get something more along the lines of at least schools. So it can narrow down to highschool.com. However, as pleasant as that may sound, that is not the best option if a site truly wishes to make it a big site as quick and easiest as possible. The worth of a one letter name (Such as h.com) is of the greatest worth. Sadly, these are no longer obtainable. So that is out of the picture. Two letter domains are of utmost value and the easiest to get a higher page rank, links, etc. (This is of course, not including names such as kill.com or hello.com, which are very valuable because they are very common words). Anyways, the most favorable domain name would be hs.com, which represents High School. A two letter domain, it represents High School, and not to mention over 200 Million people search “hs” on google every day. Unfortunately “hs.com” would cost over 5 Million dollars most likely, so I don’t think many people can afford that. As you can see, there is a trend in my thoughts. This will continue to three letter domains, four, pronounceable, etc. All I can say, is that this is a tricky business, and the chances of getting a perfect domain name are very slim.

Well, that pretty much tops it off, although there are many more factors in this rigorous process and experience. Linking, SEO, and the domain name itself all play a role in determining who is the #1 site according to google. I do hope people can learn something from this, and I wish anybody to think carefully before entering the portal of domains.

This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on November 10th, 2007. This was my final draft.

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James Armistead Lafayette – Final

As a slave, I didn’t get much freedom and was very bored a lot of the time. I had a lust for adventure. Therefore I offered myself to the American Rebels as a spy. I knew T’was a very difficult and high-risk job, but I felt up to it. When thee is a slave and discriminated against, there isn’t much to lose. I was not guaranteed/offered freedom in return for my services. I volunteered completely.

Oh, I forgot to tell a bit about myself. I am a slave, and a spy for General Lafayette. I had, excuse me please, a somewhat great memory as well as a superb intelligence level. I was, and am, a Patriot and I believe in freedom very strongly. I was twenty-one when I joined the Rebels, and I think I played quite my own part in the American Revolution.

Well enough about why I chose to become a spy. Shall we get into the meat of the story? To begin with, I was a double crosser. I know it sounds like I was bad and that it is a negative word, but I truly was I cannot deny it. I pretended to be a spy for the British while actually spying for the Rebels. I even fed the British fake information on the Rebels strategies and plans of attack. One reason I was picked to do the job, was because I had a very good memory and an “unnatural” intelligence, if I do say so myself. I also had a knack of getting trust easily and fluidly. Nobody ever even suspected me of being a spy on either side. Their trust was of the utmost. Anyways, I was stationed in Lord Cornwallis’s camp, also near Benedict Arnold’s camp, and was regularly in “contact” with the Lord Cornwallis himself who was the General in charge of the camp. This meant I could over-hear conversations and listen to slips dropped by the guards who were not supposed to have said anything at all. Because of this dangerous job I had, I did not record any of what I did, said or anything else that was of importance. If any of the British figured out my secret by reading records they might have discovered, I would have been done for, and quite dead. Obviously that would not have done me or the Rebels any good. Eventually after quite some time, I got the major slip-up I needed and my information led to the defeat of Lord Cornwallis. This was playing a part in the victory of the Rebels on the whole. By finding out when the British were going to move, I was able to alert General Lafayette. His army stationed themselves to hold off Lord Cornwallis. Lafayette captured Lord Cornwallis’s ships in a trap, and defeated them.

After this busy work, I was given a Certificate praising my work (This was given to me by Lafayette himself). I then sent the Certificate to Virginia asking to be set free. However I did not demand to be set free, unless my owner, William Armistead, was paid for his loss (of me). The Virginian Government (delightfully) agreed, and I was set free as well as William Armistead was paid for the loss. It was then that I changed my name to James Armistead Lafayette in honor of these two men that had given me my freedom. I received one more annual pension for my service during the revolution that was usually given to whites. Later on before I became an old and rusty man, I worked to abolish slavery, and opened an estate for Blacks to go to. Overall I affected the defeat of Lord Cornwallis, and helped the Rebels win that one key battle. It helped us win the Revolution.

“So young-lings, how did you like my story?”

“Mr. Lafayette, why were there slaves, that is so mean.”

“Ah child, ask your parents when you are older.”

“My. Lafayette, you are so nice I wish my teacher was like you.”

“Oh remember you can learn a lot from your teacher. Don’t think they aren’t nice. If you look into it you will see your teacher is a nice person.”

“My Lafayette, how did you get so tall?”

“I ate my vegetables.”

This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on October 25th, 2007. This was my rough draft for the project.

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James Armistead Lafayette

As a slave, I didn’t get much freedom and was very bored a lot of the time. Therefore I offered myself to the American Rebels as a spy. I know it’s a very difficult and high-risk job, but I felt up to it. When you are a slave, there isn’t much to lose. I was not even guaranteed/offered freedom in return for my services. I volunteered completely out of the good of my heart.

Oh, I forgot to tell a bit about myself. I am a “black” slave, and a spy for General Lafayette. I had, excuse me please, a great memory as well as a superb intelligence level. I was, and am, a Patriot and I believe in freedom very strongly. I was twenty-one when I joined the Rebels, and I think I played my part in the American Revolution.

Well enough about why I chose to become a spy. Let’s get into the meat of the game. To begin with, I was a double crosser. I know it sounds like I was bad and that it is a negative word, but I truly was. I pretended to be a spy for the British while actually spying for the Rebels. I even fed the British fake information on the Rebels strategies and plans of attack. One reason I was picked to do the job, was because I had a very good memory and an “unnatural” intelligence, if I do say so myself. I also had a knack of getting trust easily. Nobody ever even suspected me of being a spy on either side. Their trust was of the utmost. Anyways, I was stationed in Lord Cornwallis’s camp, also near Benedict Arnold’s camp, and was regularly in “contact” with the Lord Cornwallis himself who was the General in charge. This meant I could over-hear conversations and listen to slips dropped by the guards who were not supposed to have said anything. Because of this dangerous job I had, I did not record any of what I did, said or anything else that was of importance. If any of the British figured out my secret by reading my recordings I would have been done for, and certainly dead. Obviously that would not have done the Rebels any good. Eventually my information led to the defeat of Lord Cornwallis, playing a part in the victory of the Rebels. By finding out when the British were going to move, I was able to alert General Lafayette, and his army could station themselves to hold off Lord Cornwallis. Lafayette captured Lord Cornwallis’s ships in a trap, and defeated them.

After all this, I was given a Certificate praising my work (This was given to me be Lafayette himself). I then sent the Certificate to Virginia asking to be set free. However I did not demand to be set free, unless my owner, William Armistead, was paid for his loss of me. The Virginian Government agreed, and I was set free as well as William Armistead was paid for his loss. It was then that I changed my name to James Armistead Lafayette in honor of these two men that had given me my freedom. I received one more annual pension for my service during the revolution that was usually given to whites. Later on before I became an old and rusty man, I worked to abolish slavery, and opened an estate for Blacks to go to. Overall I affected the defeat of Cornwallis, and helped the Rebels win that one major battle. It helped us win the Revolution.

“So young-lings, how did you like my story?”

“Mr. Lafayette, why were there slaves, that is so mean.”

“Ah child, ask your parents when you are older.”

“My. Lafayette, you are so nice I wish my teacher was like you.”

“Oh remember you can learn a lot from your teacher. Don’t think they aren’t nice. If you look into it you will see your teacher is a nice person.”

“My Lafayette, how did you get so tall?”

“I ate my vegetables.”

This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on October 18th, 2007. This is the outline that I did of that assignment.

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I. James Armistead Lafayette

A. Why be a Spy?

1. Freedom? Not Promised.

2. Volunteer

B. Experiences

1. Months of being in Lord Cornwallis’s tent

a. Listened to all plans

2. No life record

3. British Camps

4. His info lead to victory over Cornwallis

a. Ships of Cornwallis sail. Americans trap them.

5. Double Crosser

a. Played spy for both sides but gave fake info to British

6. “Black innocence” and played part well

7. Slave

C. About yourself

1. Slave

2. Black

3. Double Crosser

4. Lafayette Spy

5. Superb intelligence

6. Amazing memory

II. Results of Actions

A. Yourself Personally

1. Received Certificate

a. For bravery

2. ^^^ Gets to be free

3. Annual Pension

a. Pension for white to service

b. Service for cause American Revolution

B. War in General

1. Defeat of Cornwallis

2. Winner of one big battle

This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on October 4th, 2007. I had to write a five paragraph essay on virtually anything, and I chose to write it on soccer fans.

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Soccer Fans

Ideas:

- Dutch (For sure) Craziness

- Brazil Fans (Good Soccer)

- USA Fans

- Mexico’s Fans (Hostility)

- Best League Teams and their fans

Did you know that fans from different places, and support their teams in different ways? Well I hope so, and besides that, I can show you the extreme cases of soccer addiction. Brazil is famous for having the best team in the world. However did you know that most of their fans only come for the good soccer, and not for support of their country. For the US it’s a completely different aspect. Recently they have come upon the “great David Beckham” who draws people out of popularity. The most extreme case I have ever seen in soccer is the Dutch’s (Netherlands) craziness and complete faith in their team.

The Brazilian International team is great and they have many fans. However they usually only are fans of Brazil because they get to see good soccer. In the last World Cup, and Brazil played Ghana in the Round of Sixteen, Ghana out-played Brazil (Although still losing) and the Brazilian fans started cheering for Ghana! However this doesn’t mean some Brazilian fans aren’t loyal. In fact, some of their fans got arrested for throwing a grenade into a rival teams bus! Basically I think the fans are wanna-bees and they want to see soccer they wish they could do.

In the USA, David Beckham (A player from England) has come to play for the MLS League. This has caused lots and lots of people to be more attracted to soccer, and to attend more games. Although this is mainly because of his “good looks” as girls say, and his chances of becoming an actor, this still is making more people choose soccer as “their sport”. As I said, there are now more screamers and cheerers to make the USA international team win their games.

In the Netherlands, you are either completely serious or the opposite: crazy. In this case, the Dutch fans are totally outrageously crazy in their support of their team. In the last World Cup, they dressed all orange and let it rip. 1000 Fans actually watched a game without trousers on! They went around in an orange car made of cardboard and a lot more!

To me every one of these is a proof of how soccer is the best sport in the world. People support their teams, are drawn to it, and show just how crazy they are about it. Did you know that this isn’t all there is?

This is an essay assignment that I did in 8th grade on September 30th, 2007. It is a five paragraph essay, and I had to summarize some potential arguments in an outline beforehand.

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Playing Soccer Bullet Outline

Pros:

(3) — In-creases strength heart

(3) — Exercise

(2) — Improved Breathing

(3) — Meet new people

— Most of the world likes it the most

(2) — Strengthens muscles

(3) — Leadership skills

(3) — Smartness

(2) — Get out and away from family

Cons:

(1) — Time consuming

(1) — Interfere with school

— If high level you can’t play any other sport

(1) — Lots of running

(1) — Pressure

Paragraphs

Playing soccer can be a great sport, as long as you know how to enjoy yourself, however, if you do not you may not be so happy. In soccer there are many things you can learn: Leadership skills, “smarts”, meet new people, exercise and much more. Sometimes though, soccer is not the best sport in the world. It is time consuming (especially if you are in school) and if you don’t like running, it’s not that fun. As well as at a medium level there is lots, and lots of pressure.

Soccer is a good sport, but sometimes it doesn’t make you the happiest you can be. Soccer is time consuming and you may find yourself thinking its wasting you time, when you could be doing something else that’s important. It may interfere with school-work, which is not a good thing for many people. People who do not like running a lot, would not like soccer either. Soccer games are usually 45-60 minutes for kids. Therefore that would be a lot of running. At a high level soccer can also get discouraging. There is lots of pressure, and messing up would make team-mates mad at you. The coach may also be un-happy and not put you in as much. All in all, soccer can be a discouraging sport.

Soccer definitely has its good qualities, in several aspects. When going to practice, there is the chance to get away from family. They might be getting annoying and to just get out and away may be very refreshing. When practicing, it will strengthen muscles, because of the constant kicking and running. Also breathing will become much easier, as learning to breathe correctly is essential.

There are more things that make soccer an excellent sport. Lots of exercise is included in this. At school you can then dominate people with increased endurance and strength. Running will also increase your hearts strength, which will make you live longer (and everyone likes that). Making friends is also fun, and there will be plenty of that if you play soccer. Most importantly, when playing soccer you develop leadership skills and “smarts”. You learn to command people with ease, and make smart decisions that will influence the whole team. All of these are what makes soccer a very fun game.

Playing soccer is on the whole a fun game, and you learn a lot from it. Even when the game gets boring and not so fun, there is always a way to come back to it.

This is a three paragraph essay that I wrote in 8th grade on August 28th, 2007. It is about literature and books, and how they relate to real life.

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Books are an amazing thing, and deep inside of them there are messages, morals, and personalities. Last year I was fortunate enough to learn much about all of that. As I read I realized that you should always follow what you think is right. Alicia knowing the how cruel the Germans were, was saving people and making sure she could do as much as she could to help overcome the fear in everyone. Huck Finn could not allow the wrong discrimination most of “his” peoples directed at Jim even if he was black. He followed what his heart and saved Jim numerous times over, even when his fellow white folk pressured him to “go with the crowd”. In White Mountains, Will and Beanpole always had a pit in their hearts knowing something wrong or mysterious was going on. They went against everything they had ever known, and made a journey to stop whatever evil was wafting around. However in some cases following what you think is not always a good sign. One reason Huck left is because of his anger towards his father. Although this might have been good at the time, should he have left the whole community? He might have been able to get rid of his dad instead of leaving himself. In A Mid-Summer Nights Dream (AMSND), Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia, all had anger and betrayal because of what they thought was right (even though they were tampered with).

Friendship is also key to succeed in life and stories. Where would Jim be if Huck wasn’t always at his side? In fact, where would Huck be without this very obvious bond between them? Although he likes to say he is independent, he would have a much less jolly life without Jim. Alicia and her beloved brother were as close as you can be while he still lived. She received love and comfort from him and therefore strengthening her as well as him, to push through the hard times. Beanpole and Will were growing to be good friends by the end, and together they faced difficult escapes, and challenges. Alone they could not have made it. Even if the four young lovers from AMSND hated each other from beginning, the ending resulted in friendship and they must have had a good life as well after that.

Humor, humor, humor…..you just can’t get enough of it; it’s essential. With several proving examples, humor plays a large role in many good books. Bottom showing off what an ass he is, trying to be all the roles at once, and really just giving all his friends a good inside laugh. Puck, his shadow, the joker of the gods, playing tricks (whether he was trying to or not) on many of the “lesser mortals”. As well as at the end he still thinks that “man is but an ass” and that men were the stupid things. Not to mention him acting and talking like a childish little bugger half the time. In Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer shows himself, and takes charge of a gang that’s going to go out and kill everyone. However when they get the chance to, Tom of course was just joking and having fun the whole time. All in all, there are many things you can learn from books and especially from the ones I read last year.