Middle Class Status Slipping

The Middle Class has always been a very "American" idea, as it depicts the average household and the model American family.  The Great Recession, however, took a big toll on the nation and eliminated nearly 8.7 million Middle Class jobs.  This decrease brought about a significant drop in the number of Middle Class Americans, bringing the number down to nearly 40% of Americans in the lower middle to lower class, as opposed to only 25% before the recession.  This decrease not only effects the household income, but the household mentality, as the Middle Class is more or less a "way of life."  This way of life is seeing a slow incline after the recession hit, but it will take years for everything to be back to normal and the American Middle Class to be reestablished.

To me, it seems that the Middle Class is directly related to the American Dream, a dream of a stable, suburban family, not living paycheck to paycheck.  It hurts me to see so many Americans struggling to make it through these hard times, but I see the statistics, and know better times are on the way.  This gives me hope that one day the legendary American Middle Class will be restored, and possibly even more may enter into the class with stable jobs and families.  So, what do you think?  Is the Middle Class more than an income category, and will it be restored soon?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/04/02/more-americans-see-middle-class-status-slipping/7220635/

Windows 8 Has Failed

Microsoft Windows 8 lags predecessor in first-year sales

Microsoft had very high hopes for their brand new successor to the exceptionally popular Windows 7 operation system 15 months ago, but things have not turned out the way the company had envisioned.  The operating system has sold 200 million copies as opposed to Windows 7's 240 million in just 12 months.  Microsoft had high ambitions for Windows 8, but the user interface seems too confusing to many, and not well suited for business settings.  To put these low sales in perspective, it has been reported that a mere 11 percent of PC's are running Windows 8, whereas 48 percent are running the older Windows 7 and 29 percent are running the much older Windows XP.  These dismal numbers reflect just how poorly Microsoft's approach to combing the desktop and tablet experiences has been.  It is evident that the company must do something to turn these sales around or else they may have one of the biggest tech failures in history on their hands.

I think that Microsoft took a huge risk with Windows 8, attempting to combine the traditional desktop interface with their brand new "Modern UI", but this approach did not play very well with consumers.  I give Microsoft credit for taking this risk, but I do not believe the company's execution of this idea was well thought out.  I think Microsoft may have had too big of ambitions for an operation system that they really missed the boat on.  Microsoft missed the tablet trend and tried to over-correct themselves by overhauling their core desktop experience in a way consumers were not familiar.  Microsoft needs to leave tablet computing to Apple and Google, and focus on making a great desktop system that no one can compete with.

Visit my Glogster!

What is my favorite scene from the book Grendel?  Visit my Glogster to find out! Brendan's Glogster

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to my blog, where you can learn about me and hear my thoughts.  I am 16 years old and have enjoyed the great state of Nebraska for all 16.  Now about my life, what does it consist of? If I had to sum it up in one word: Netflix. Yes, Netflix is my favorite pastime, and there is no shame in that.  But what else do I do, I mean that can't be all, right?  Well, I play French horn in the Creighton Prep band, and am also involved in Creighton Prep student council and campus ministry. My hobbies include biking and tinkering with computers.  Someone's taste in music can tell a lot about a person, so I think it is important for everyone to know my favorite Pandora station, which is my perfect Cage the Elephant radio. 

It is also important to know about my family, as they play a major role in my life. I have a very large family with eight children, along with one sister-in-law and one niece. My family is always there for me and I have made great memories with them.  My oldest brother Jimmy is married and has the most adorable three month old daughter Felicity.  With the birth of Felicity I became Uncle Brendan, only the greatest uncle in the world, immediately surpassing my four brothers.  I also have a sister Patty at Boston College and another sister Maggie who is a senior at Duchesne.  Maggie is sitting next to me as I write this and she says we are going to become Olympic ice dancers together.  Maybe she is just excited about the United States taking gold, or maybe she is serious, but either way, USA, USA, USA, USA!!!  Two of my little brothers go to Saint Roberts while the remaining one goes to UNO.  I've also got a little sister Teresa who is obviously Felicity's preferred aunt.  I am so thankful for my family and do not know what I would do without them.