So I would continue on with catching up on my blogs, however, on the website www.annunziato.org blogs 9-14 are blank and I can't access what they are. I will unfortunately have to throw in the towel on these blogs as class starts soon and my fingers and brain are starting to hurt. I hope I have everything ready to upload tonight. We will see how this goes.
So for now, signing off on my last blog... and typing blog more times in my life today than I probably ever will again... blog, blog, blog, and good night.
nn
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Another Choose your own topic Blog
Is it bad that I'm terrible at coming up with my own topics to blog about? That is probably why I don't blog in the first place. I mean honestly, I work, I go to school, I come home and I sleep. Beyond that, I'm not the world's most interesting person. So if I can't think of anything interesting to blog about, who the hell is going to think my blogs are interesting? That is why I'm naming this blog as my blog about having nothing to blog about. I'm up to writing the word "blog" 7 times so far in this... well now, 8.
I'm not against people who blog, or even blogging for that matter. I think it's a great way for people to interact with other people virtually (though I personally prefer physical interaction rather than virtual) through various mediums like blogger.com, twitter, facebook, and myspace (for the 7 people who still use myspace).
I say blog all you want. Blog about your day, what you're doing, tell the world that you're not at your computer right now because you're taking a poop. No matter what you want to tell the world, go ahead and put it out there. Just remember, once it gets out, it's out for good. I think that is where so many of us go wrong.
Everyone likes to feel important, like someone actually cares and wants to know what you're up to. For the most part, we are all like that. These mediums allow any and everyone to log in and and network. The downside, much like in real life, people have a hard time knowing what to make public and knowing what to keep inside.
Do we really want people to know when we aren't home because we're at the store buying milk (in which case you only have about 10 minutes to break into my house). Or, do we want people to know that they can be comfortable and take their time breaking into our houses because we're in Jamaica and won't be back until next Tuesday?
I choose to avoid the whole thing and put my head in the sand like an ostrich... or an old grumpy man that likes to put his head in the sand? Anyway, enough with this blog, I think I've blogged enough. That's at least 11 "blogs" in this one blog... crazy! (13) Blog (14 times)
I'm not against people who blog, or even blogging for that matter. I think it's a great way for people to interact with other people virtually (though I personally prefer physical interaction rather than virtual) through various mediums like blogger.com, twitter, facebook, and myspace (for the 7 people who still use myspace).
I say blog all you want. Blog about your day, what you're doing, tell the world that you're not at your computer right now because you're taking a poop. No matter what you want to tell the world, go ahead and put it out there. Just remember, once it gets out, it's out for good. I think that is where so many of us go wrong.
Everyone likes to feel important, like someone actually cares and wants to know what you're up to. For the most part, we are all like that. These mediums allow any and everyone to log in and and network. The downside, much like in real life, people have a hard time knowing what to make public and knowing what to keep inside.
Do we really want people to know when we aren't home because we're at the store buying milk (in which case you only have about 10 minutes to break into my house). Or, do we want people to know that they can be comfortable and take their time breaking into our houses because we're in Jamaica and won't be back until next Tuesday?
I choose to avoid the whole thing and put my head in the sand like an ostrich... or an old grumpy man that likes to put his head in the sand? Anyway, enough with this blog, I think I've blogged enough. That's at least 11 "blogs" in this one blog... crazy! (13) Blog (14 times)
The Digital Divide
From the article "Binary America: Split in Two By a Digital Divide," I was able to glean some information I did not know. Specifically, I had no idea that different metropolitan areas were trying to create free wifi areas for people to log into. The goal is for people who can't afford high speed Internet to log into it.
Not having Internet access puts families like that of Marcella Morris behind the curve in regard to the ability to search an apply for jobs, for the children to use the Internet to help in their homework, and other "luxuries" that "rich" families have.
While I agree that not having Internet does put families at a disadvantage, I can't help but shake my head at things like the free wireless Internet access project in Charlestown, SC. Yes, it would be great for everyone to have access to the Internet. And it would be even better if that access was free, but for millions of Americans that pay for high speed Internet service, it begs the question: why? Why should I pay when others can get it for free from their community?
While the article does boast that the wifi comes at no cost, the fact is that NOTHING comes at no cost. To be able to provide that kind of wifi serve from a city or town, money will have to be provided to pay for the equipment, its maintenance, and for its expansion due to the never ending addition to people wanting to use the free service.
I would feel much better about it if the Internet providers like Verizon, Comcast, COX, and all the others offered to open wifi up to everyone. Otherwise, if I pay for it, so should everyone else.
The article even stated that a majority of the people that logged on to the free wifi were people who had enough money to pay for their own.
Internet access should be provided at no cost to the user in libraries, public schools, and at any business that chooses to provide that service. (i.e. McDonald's, Starbucks)
However, the government should not be stepping in and supplying internet widespread over cities and towns. And for the record, the same people that use the free wifi in their homes provided by the city or town, will eventually complain about who is monitoring it. That will start a whole new debate. If you want it, pay for it. If you can't afford it, find a way to afford it or do without it. Wanting something is not enough of an excuse to have something provided to you; regardless of where you live, your religion, race, or social class.
Not having Internet access puts families like that of Marcella Morris behind the curve in regard to the ability to search an apply for jobs, for the children to use the Internet to help in their homework, and other "luxuries" that "rich" families have.
While I agree that not having Internet does put families at a disadvantage, I can't help but shake my head at things like the free wireless Internet access project in Charlestown, SC. Yes, it would be great for everyone to have access to the Internet. And it would be even better if that access was free, but for millions of Americans that pay for high speed Internet service, it begs the question: why? Why should I pay when others can get it for free from their community?
While the article does boast that the wifi comes at no cost, the fact is that NOTHING comes at no cost. To be able to provide that kind of wifi serve from a city or town, money will have to be provided to pay for the equipment, its maintenance, and for its expansion due to the never ending addition to people wanting to use the free service.
I would feel much better about it if the Internet providers like Verizon, Comcast, COX, and all the others offered to open wifi up to everyone. Otherwise, if I pay for it, so should everyone else.
The article even stated that a majority of the people that logged on to the free wifi were people who had enough money to pay for their own.
Internet access should be provided at no cost to the user in libraries, public schools, and at any business that chooses to provide that service. (i.e. McDonald's, Starbucks)
However, the government should not be stepping in and supplying internet widespread over cities and towns. And for the record, the same people that use the free wifi in their homes provided by the city or town, will eventually complain about who is monitoring it. That will start a whole new debate. If you want it, pay for it. If you can't afford it, find a way to afford it or do without it. Wanting something is not enough of an excuse to have something provided to you; regardless of where you live, your religion, race, or social class.
Internet Media for Education
This video illustrates the old version or "standard method" for teaching math to students most of us are familiar with as applied to "new math" and versions taught to grade school students today. And we wonder why kids have trouble with math?
YouTube Video Links about Education
This blog entry is supposed to contain 3 links to YouTube videos describing a particular topic related to Education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fTS1ToseiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZ6GrzWkw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vcl17SPsM
Oddly, they all mention that our education system isn't good enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fTS1ToseiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZ6GrzWkw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vcl17SPsM
Oddly, they all mention that our education system isn't good enough.
Why waiting until the last minute to do your blogs sucks: A reflection
First, it sucks because you have to do a lot of reading and educating yourself on what the parameters of your assigned blog of that class are concerned with. Which article do you have to read, how long does the blog have to be, why is the article 10 pages long, are all questions that you have to answer before you can even sit down and write out something... anything to achieve the 100 word minimum and be able to continue onto the next blog that you didn't do because you're not comfortable with blogging.
The next reason why waiting until the last minute sucks is that this is your last class. You should be able to calmly gather your things and walk to class, breezing through your day without a care in the world. Instead, you are sitting behind your computer, struggling to smash out as many words as you can to make a point while constantly realizing that you spelled something wrong. Since waiting until the end of your document is just unacceptable to you, you stop and correct everything you made a mistake on. This only adds an extra 10 or 15 minutes to your blog writing process.
Lastly, the biggest thing that sucks about waiting until the last minute is knowing that you had all the time in the world to do something simple like type out three paragraphs and hit "publish post," but no, you spent all your time working, or in other class, or if you're privileged... sleeping. But it is all OK in the end as long as you get all of them done before class is finished and you end up getting a C or worse even though you've done all the work for the semester. All of them except Blog Entry 4 (because the pdf has been removed from the website) So in the future don't be a dumb-ass, don't pull a me, and do your damn blogs before the last class!
The next reason why waiting until the last minute sucks is that this is your last class. You should be able to calmly gather your things and walk to class, breezing through your day without a care in the world. Instead, you are sitting behind your computer, struggling to smash out as many words as you can to make a point while constantly realizing that you spelled something wrong. Since waiting until the end of your document is just unacceptable to you, you stop and correct everything you made a mistake on. This only adds an extra 10 or 15 minutes to your blog writing process.
Lastly, the biggest thing that sucks about waiting until the last minute is knowing that you had all the time in the world to do something simple like type out three paragraphs and hit "publish post," but no, you spent all your time working, or in other class, or if you're privileged... sleeping. But it is all OK in the end as long as you get all of them done before class is finished and you end up getting a C or worse even though you've done all the work for the semester. All of them except Blog Entry 4 (because the pdf has been removed from the website) So in the future don't be a dumb-ass, don't pull a me, and do your damn blogs before the last class!
Who am we?
The subjects of this blog entry are the answer to two questions:
1. What are the positive and negative impacts on the lives of the users of the MUDs from modifying their identities? and
2. Which is their real identity: their physical or their digital identity.
The answer to which should be gleaned from the article "Who Am We?" By Sherry Turkle
First, the Internet and all the games therein, (Sims, World of Warcraft, etc) allow people a certain anonymity. Online players can become anyone or anything that they want through the virtue of their profile. Did you want to be a heroic elf with the ability to cast infinite protection spells on your ogre thereby increasing his mana and making him invincible? Me either, but some people do.
In many ways this is positive. People can tap their creativity and express themselves in a forum that accepts them for it. Should someone run around the streets of Boston chanting threats in Klingon and talking about how their Dragon is the greatest dragon ever, people might look at them funny.
The negative to this end, is that people may naturally become so involved in their virtual world, or their on line life that they tend to avoid the real world. Given, the "real" world is a pain in the ass and no one is really happy anyway, it's not hard to see why people enjoy spending time living in their virtual worlds being who they want to be. It is easy to ignore and forget about the real world, making people who may already be introverts become even more detached from society.
Another downside to having the ability to change your identity is the "scumbag rule." That rule, created by me, states, that there are a lot of scumbags in the world, and any tricks they can pull to harm, fool, steal from, or abuse other people, they will make full use of. Having the ability to tell someone that you're whatever identity you've made simply allows criminals to trick good, arguably naive people into believing them and often wanting to meet them.
So which is their real identity: online or physical? Well, to be honest, I have to believe their real identity is their physical identity, but since life is often not what's true, but rather what you can prove, identity becomes whatever state the subject decides to exist in. If the subject carries on his or her online identity into their physical life, not only have they cracked, but they also have two "identities" now merged into one.
1. What are the positive and negative impacts on the lives of the users of the MUDs from modifying their identities? and
2. Which is their real identity: their physical or their digital identity.
The answer to which should be gleaned from the article "Who Am We?" By Sherry Turkle
First, the Internet and all the games therein, (Sims, World of Warcraft, etc) allow people a certain anonymity. Online players can become anyone or anything that they want through the virtue of their profile. Did you want to be a heroic elf with the ability to cast infinite protection spells on your ogre thereby increasing his mana and making him invincible? Me either, but some people do.
In many ways this is positive. People can tap their creativity and express themselves in a forum that accepts them for it. Should someone run around the streets of Boston chanting threats in Klingon and talking about how their Dragon is the greatest dragon ever, people might look at them funny.
The negative to this end, is that people may naturally become so involved in their virtual world, or their on line life that they tend to avoid the real world. Given, the "real" world is a pain in the ass and no one is really happy anyway, it's not hard to see why people enjoy spending time living in their virtual worlds being who they want to be. It is easy to ignore and forget about the real world, making people who may already be introverts become even more detached from society.
Another downside to having the ability to change your identity is the "scumbag rule." That rule, created by me, states, that there are a lot of scumbags in the world, and any tricks they can pull to harm, fool, steal from, or abuse other people, they will make full use of. Having the ability to tell someone that you're whatever identity you've made simply allows criminals to trick good, arguably naive people into believing them and often wanting to meet them.
So which is their real identity: online or physical? Well, to be honest, I have to believe their real identity is their physical identity, but since life is often not what's true, but rather what you can prove, identity becomes whatever state the subject decides to exist in. If the subject carries on his or her online identity into their physical life, not only have they cracked, but they also have two "identities" now merged into one.
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