I did an experiment a few days ago. I would go out for a short walk, and see the ratio of girls using phones and boys using phones. As I walked up Queen’s Gate, the number of girls was getting higher, espcially around the Imperial College. But as I went down Exhibition Road, the ratio evened out. But when I got close to Cromwell Road, the ratio was something like 13 boys and ten girls. This study shows the ratio of boys to girls at 6:00pm to 6:30pm in Kensington below Hyde Park. People these days are so addicted to their phones, they always feel the need to pull out a phone. Then some genius invented the NoPhone. All it is is a black piece of rubber. If you get the selfie upgrade, there is a mirror sticker on it and you can use verbal hashtags. The point is to allow you to be connected with the real world while you satisfy your need to get some hand-to-phone contact. It might not be actually manufactured if it doesn’t have a lot of funding ($50,000), so you might have to find you own peice of black rubber.

Today I went to the Tower of London. The first thing I saw was the White Tower. They had a Line of Kings Exhibit, which showed the armor of the kings. Then I saw the Crown Jewels. Then I did a long walk around the walls. I saw a Royal Animals exhibit, which told the tale of the Royal Animals. Then I did the Bloody Tower and the torture room. Then I went. You should go the Tower of London some day!

A link to the game is here. I would have put the chessboard here, but either WordPress or Chess.com won’t let me.

Quidditch is a game in Harry Potter played on flying broomsticks. Since you don’t have flying broomsticks, you have to play it on foot. Here is what you need:

a long field
six hoops (like basketball hoops but the basket should be straight up)
one light, big spongy ball (the Quaffle) and 2 hard, small, heavy ones (the Bludgers)
4 small basball bats
a tennis ball (the Snitch)
7 players for each team and two people who are really good at running, throwing, and catching all at once
(optional) team shirts

Setup and rules:

Place three hoops at both sides of the field. These are the goals. On your team you have the Keeper, the Seeker, 3 Chasers, and 2 beaters. The Keeper has to block the quaffle from going in his team’s hoops. If the Keeper fails and the opposing team scores, then the team who scored gets ten points. The Seeker has to go after the Snitch. In the books, the Snitch flys around on its own. But you can’t do that with a tennis ball. The two people who are really good at running, throwing, and catching all at once are called the Snitch Managers. They have to run around the outside of the field and throw the Snitch around. If a throw doesn’t make it across the field, then the Seekers (and ONLY the Seekers) run to get it. Whoever’s team gets it first, wins 150 points and the game is finished. Whoever has the most points after the Snitch is caught wins. The Seekers can also catch the Snitch while it is in the air. The Chasers chase the Quaffle and try to throw it in the opposite side’s hoops. The Beaters’ main job is to hit the Bludgers with the baseball bats and try and hit the other players to disturb the flow of the game. Only the Seekers can touch the Snitch. There is no punching, kicking, or biting. Failure to comply with these rules means a five point loss for your team. The game starts when the Quaffle is thrown in the air by the referee.

I read a book today. It is called The Hidden Treasure of Glaston. It is about the son of a knight, whose father killed Thomas à Becket. A mob burned the knight’s house down, and the knight’s son, called Hugh, has to live in a monastery. Hugh wants to be a knight one day, but he has to help make books at the monastery with Brother John. One day, when Hugh is out in the fields when an arrow flies past his head! A boy called Dickson comes out and says, “I thought you were a bird.” Hugh becomes friends with Dickson and Dickson tells Hugh that Dickson searches for treasure. Dickson says he will show Hugh another time. A few days later. Dickson and Hugh meet in the fields and Dickson shows Hugh a cave where there is a lot of valuable stuff. There is a hole which Dickson hasn’t gone down yet. Then Hugh goes back to the monastery and finds out that one of the world’s most valuable books is there, but it is missing pages. The Hugh and Dickson try and find the Holy Grail, and lots of other valuable artifacts with the help of a hermit called Bleheris.

I am writing a book. It is like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates, but it’s for older readers. Here is an excerpt:

June

I am John Brown. I have a normal name and I look normal. I have a normal family, which has two parents and three kids. I have a baby brother who is treated like a prince, and an older sister who is a total punk.The baby is called Hashtag. Yes, this is his actual name. My parents had just went to a cell phone shop before they had Hashtag. The only not normal thing about the Brown family is Hashtag. The older sister is called Crystal Ellen Charlie Van Chang Brown. But I’ll call her Crystal for short. I go to Board Middle School. Crystal goes to Tyred High School. Hashtag goes to Weerd Daycare. When Hashtag comes home from Weerd Daycare, he watches TV. I find that dumb since all Hashtag does at daycare is watch TV. Before Hashtag goes to daycare, he watches more TV. I think Hashtag is a hypnotist because he managed to get my parents to let him stay home at church and watch more TV.
Crystal is at her friend’s house half the day. She actually skips some classes and she parties at her friend’s house. Crystal has the worst attendance record at school. Crystal’s friend is the DEVIL. I can believe it when I hear that she has dark magical powers. I dare not say her name. I call her She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

It is going to be published sometime in December for Kindle. It should be around 200 pages.

Today I went to the HMS Belfast. It was really cool! I did the Gun Turret experience first. It tells you about the process of firing a gun. Then I went on the second deck, where I saw the boiler room, the shell room, the kitchen, and the sick bay. Then I went to the upper deck and saw the Admiral’s Deck. Then I went up to the the AA guns. Then I went to the Captain’s deck, and then I went down to the exit. (Trust me, it takes a lot longer than I make it sound.) You should definitely go to the HMS Belfast! It’s by London Bridge and the Shard.

I made a lego candy machine. It has two options and a coin bank. A penny, a 5 pence coin, or anything that size will fit. Both options hold tic tacs. You put a coin in on the top and it releases a bar. You can slide another bar to the side you want, and an array of tic tacs will fall out. I give all credit to ElectryDragonite for his wonderful tutorial. The tutorial isn’t too hard, you just need a lot of bricks.

If you read Harry Potter, you should check out this site. You get to potter around Diagon Alley, get sorted at Hogwarts and practice spells and potions. I am in Ravenclaw and I have a Barn Owl and a Phoenix Feather wand. My username is BladeThorn14043. You also get to see “moments” from the books. So if you don’t have the books, you can see some scenes from the books and movies.

Today I went on the London Eye. I got the red car. I could see as far as Wembley Stadium. The carriages had screens to point out landmarks. I heard you can see Windsor Castle on a clear day, but that’s not true. The London Eye moves so slow, they don’t have to stop it to let people on. The whole ride takes 30 minutes. You can see a lot of London. The Eye is close to the Aquarium and the London Dungeon. There is also a park nearby. The 4D experience is fun and free with your ticket. I definitely recommend The London Eye.

Today I went to Borough Market in London. Bourough Market only sells food. I normally get a bhujia from an Indian place and then get two empanadas from Porteña (an Argentinean place) and maybe some fudge. The Market has some great desserts and cheeses around the center. To the right side we have meat and fish, and the south side has seating. The left side has more seating and some street food. At the north we have more meat. The stalls move around a lot, and some of the good places may be gone. Kappacasein (a famous grilled cheese place) is only around on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Check online just to be sure. Gujarati Rasoi has great Indian food. For other places that might intrest you, check the site: Borough Market 

Conway’s Game of Life is a game where you make an image, and then the image will mutate to a set of rules. The set up is this: You make a grid like a piece of graph paper. Each square is called a cell. A cell can be alive or dead. Any alive cell with less than 2 alive cells surrounding it dies. Any alive cell with 2 or 3 alive cells stays alive. Any alive cell with more than 3 alive cells surrounding it dies by overcrowding. Any dead cell surrounded by exactly 3 cells comes alive. Here is a Glider, a moving image:

There are pictures called Methuselahs go for a long time before making a stable pattern. Acorn goes for 5206 generations (a moment when the picture changes) before making a repitive pattern.
Here is Acorn:

Gosper’s Glider Gun (at top) makes gliders and shoots them far. Here is a link for a simulator.

Today I went to Richmond Park. 

One of my favorite channels is musicalbasics. Lionel (I’ve talked about him before) makes music. He also sells some of his songs as sheet music. I also like Numberphile and Computerphile. Vi Hart  is also worth a look if you like math. I love Sick Science (one of Steve Spangler’s youtube channels). ElectryDragonite makes cool LEGO creations (like candy machines that take money). Those are my favorite channels.

Did you know..