On Saturday, October 17, 2020, the M.A. and Lila Self Leadership Academy (L.A.) hosted its second virtual Seminar for the academic year. Jahmal Cole, the CEO of Chicago’s fastest-growing social impact organization, My Block My Hood My City, shared his story of pursuing his dreams as a teenager while being discouraged by his socioeconomic background, poor GPA, and the lack of guidance from others. Yet, his drive to play college basketball placed him at Wayne State University and ultimately inspired an initiative to help underprivileged youth obtain an awareness of the world and opportunities beyond their neighborhood.

After a conversation with a friend working as a delivery boy for Dominos, I documented his experience as a worker during the pandemic for the TechNews readers.

You're staring at 60 satellites in the atmosphere, and within the next few decades, Elon Musk is planning to bring 42,000 of these satellites to space, 15 times the number of operating satellites in orbit currently. It's part of the Starlink, the expansive Musk and SpaceX constellation that hopes to bring the planet, low-latency high-speed internet, offering no more buffering and almost seamless internet in any corner of the world. Yet analysts say that it could come with a hefty price tag for space exploration. Nearly half of the world's population is out of the reach of the internet, since most internet solutions require a large network of expensive underwater cables, leaving many rural places offline, and while satellite internet can cover these areas wirelessly, there is something big that is baking up!

Apple’s new iPhone 12 models feature a new ceramic-hardened display named Ceramic Shield. Apple says Ceramic Shield is “tougher than any smartphone glass,” with four times greater resistance to damage from drops.  Apple says that Ceramic Shield is made by introducing nano‑ceramic crystals — which are actually harder than most metals — into the glass which dramatically improves the toughness.

Warning: Contains disturbing content.

Sabiqa wrapped the shawl around herself. The edges were frayed and some threads were loose. She traced the heavy floral design with her fingertips. She placed a finger on a leaf and continued onto a spiraling stem. She then outlined the half-bloomed roses embroidered on the fabric. She lifted her fingers off the pattern and held onto one corner of her shawl as she came to a stop.

Due to the COVID pandemic, we all have been quarantined in our houses and forgot about "travel" in our dictionary. After 10 months, I have traveled safely, following all the rules, to Atlanta to meet my brother and relatives. It was so refreshing and exciting to spend quality time exploring Atlanta and around seeing beautiful fall colors everywhere with family members. On day one, I visited one of the largest aquariums in the world, the Georgia Aquarium. It took around three to four hours to visit the entire aquarium. It is home to hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than 10 million U.S. gallons of fresh water and saltwater. The aquarium is one of only four sites in the world displaying a mantra ray. The aquarium has been home to as many as five 11-foot (3 m) beluga whales at once. The Dolphin Coast, a 1.8-million-U.S.-gallons (6,800,000 L) gallery, is the aquarium's second-largest exhibit and houses the indoor dolphin stadium. The Truist Pier 225 gallery holds California sea lions. Among its six animals, sea lions named Jupiter and Neptune were rescued in the 2015 mass sea lion stranding in California. This exhibit also offers scheduled presentations about the species. The Aquanaut Adventure: A Discovery Zone contains several smaller exhibits and multiple hands-on activities, including an augmented reality scavenger hunt using the aquarium's mobile app. The aquarium also features a 4D movie theater sponsored by KIA and a virtual reality simulator that takes guests on a trip through prehistoric seas. The Sharks! Predators of the Deep is the newest gallery to be added to the Georgia Aquarium. It opened on October 23, 2020, and it has a new 20 feet deep tank that has great hammerhead sharks, sand tiger sharks, tiger sharks, silvertip sharks, silky sharks, zebra sharks, and round ribbontail rays. It features a dive cage, where visitors can be submerged in the tank. It has a wading pool where visitors can walk with rays and zebra sharks. On day two, we had great food, watched movies and flew a drone. We ended the trip by visiting the Amicalola Falls to see fall colors. Amicalola Falls State Park and Lodge is an 829-acre state park located between Ellijay and Dahlonega in Dawsonville, Georgia. It has four trails within it, including the trail leading up to the top of the waterfall.  Amicalola Falls State Park also offers many hiking trails, a guest lodge, restaurant, cabins, a shelter for long-distance Appalachian Trail hikers, a campground, and access to the eco-friendly Len Foote Hike Inn. It was a great fun trip after a very long time.

The world has become so fast and busy, that we have no time left for ourselves. Everyone hustling and chasing their dreams, which merely are just illusions for most of us. The things we aspire and the work we put in are so much more influenced by the world around us than from within us. I do not mean to say that the mainstream professions are not something to be aspired for people have varied interest. However, seeing a whole lot of people running behind such careers bothers me. They give me vibes of a herded sheep, doing what the others are doing.

Ever wondered how your favorite free video streaming website operates? From this week and onwards in this new series, every week we will be discussing the in and outs of some the most popular YouTube features in a quick three minute read. It will be more like decoding the YouTube algorithm.

A review of "Spelunky 2," sequel to the game I've restarted more than any other.