Thursday, November 15, 2007

HW 35: Letter to My Readers

When looking back at my blog and seeing the posts that I have maintained for the last 13 weeks it is pretty startling. I never knew I had these many thoughts and ideas about topics that at first seemed not to interest me. Seeing the posts made me think that if I do just start writing and putting down ideas then a final thought or conclusion can be made. It is cool to have a written history of my thoughts too, which makes me think that I should do it more often. But to think of the question of what will people get out of my blog is kind of scary. I do not think that when people read my blogs they shouldn’t go for the overall information but the fact that writing helps clear the mind. When writing the blogs it helped open up space in my mind, I felt like there wasn’t all these thoughts and concerns swirling around and making me over think everything. Maybe if the reader can see that it worked for me and try and apply it to their life, which would be my ultimate goal of this blog. To say that I will keep going and keep up with the blog after this class is a long shot but I will definitely try and maintain. But more important I can look back at this blog and feel like I accomplished something that I never thought I would be able to achieve.

HW 34: Tea and Gold

After reading Baghdad is Burning I have found a new appreciation for gold and tea in the country of Iraq. Let us first start with gold, for Americans gold is a sense of status or how much money you make. But in Iraq Riverbend explains how gold is like paper money for Americans. See the Iraqi Dinar began losing value and was not reliable to have as a means of money for Iraqi’s. Riverbend explains the only solution, “people began converting their money to gold-earrings, bracelets, necklaces-because the value of gold didn’t change” (Baghdad Burning, 100). Now the American troops will confiscate these gold items because they did not think that Iraqi’s could own these fine items. Another part of the reading that interested me was the evening tea ritual that takes place in Iraq. What amazes me is how seriously they take their tea, and how Americans may insult them with our customs. “Iraqi tea isn’t a simple matter of teacups and teabags. If you serve ‘teabag tea’ to an Iraqi, you risk scorn and disdain- a teabag is an insult to tea connoisseurs” (Baghdad Burning, 108). They have a very extensive way of making their tea, which for us Americans would seem pointless but to them it is important. When tea is served, there is no light talk; they speak about real issues and politics. There is always time for tea also, no matter if there is bombings going on a couple of miles away they will still sit down and have tea and talk about the issues at hand.

HW 33: Iraqi Teen's Work Response

The post I have decided to review is, “Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families.” This is from the series ‘Alive in Baghdad”, and was published on October 15, 2007. This podcast deals with Iraqi teens painting and helping their family with the workload, but these kids are not ordinary. They are very young for their age and very intelligent about world affairs and what is going on in their country. Mustafa Malek is 14 years old and in the 6th grade but is already helping his father and uncle paint furniture. He learned how to paint from just watching his father and uncle do it for some odd years, which is very impressive for a young child to do. He touches upon the fact that the security situation is difficult and that it is very hard for people in Iraq to protect them. Other teen talks about how it would take an hour to get to work now, when it used to only take a half an hour. This is depressing to hear that kids are put in these situations but from what I see in the background of this podcast it seems that they are very good at what they do. I saw all sorts of different projects they were working on; chairs tables and etc. The one message that you have to get from this podcast is to stop supporting terrorism and smuggling of objects into their country because it directly affects these children. But no matter how bad their situation is they are able to make a negative a positive and help for the common good of Iraq.

HW 32: Akila Al-Hashimi

The most interesting part of this week’s assigned reading for me was the part about Akila Al-Hashimi. Akila was leaving her home in Jihad Quarter to go to work, when two trucks cut her off. These two trucks had armed men in them and they opened fire on Akila. When the neighborhood heard the gun shots they came out with guns in hand, and they exchanged fire with the gang. Akila was rushed to the Al-Yarmuk hospital where the wound from her stomach was operated on. Then for some odd reason she was rushed onto the American army ambulance and was taken to the Baghdad Airport. She was not just wounded in the stomach but also in the foot and shoulder, she is in stable condition though. For Riverbend this was a devastating, “It’s depressing because she was actually one of the decent members on the council” (Baghdad Burning, 75). This is not the only reason that Riverbend is upset because it also brings up the fact that no woman is safe in Iraq.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

HW 31: Ahmed Chalabi, Our Guy.

After doing the assigned reading for this week and reading what Riverbend had posted in the month of September, I have found a subject I would like to look further at. I have chosen to look at Ahmed Chalabi; he was on the council for the INC (Iraqi National Council). This council was funded and backed by the United States Government because it was geared toward kicking Saddam Hussein out of power when he was the president of Iraq. Riverbend often refers to Ahmed Chalabi as a “puppet” and he in some sense was our puppet. He gained intelligence for the United States while we were investigating the actions of Iraq pre-invasion and his information led to our invasion. Chalabi has had a falling out with the United States because of some statements that he has made on national television about his involvement with the war. After the falling out with the United States Chalabi has since attempted a seat in the parliament, but has failed to do so. Recently he has been in the news for being selected with others to head the Iraqi service’s committee. This board has the task of repairing health, education and other aspects of Baghdad that need attention.
Wikipedia, “Ahmed Chalabi”, Wikipedia, 11 November 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Chalabi

HW 30b: Response to Scott Ritter

While at the Citizenship Symposium at Keene State College, I decided to drop in on the symposium entitled “Citizen Soldiers’ and Global Warriors: Challenges of Iraq.” The speaker for this session was former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter. Mr. Ritter was very focused on the constitution and how it pertains to the American people. He says that we as citizens are here to defend the constitution and to protect our country. Ritter seemed a little too raw for me and while I respect that he has his own opinion and that he is not afraid to express it, I do not agree with his views. I feel that even if you were not born in the United States you can be classified as a U.S. citizen. It is not fair to exclude someone because they are not born in a certain place, a citizen should have more meaning than that.

HW 30a: Response to June Cross

While driving through the state of New Hampshire I decided to stop into the city of Keene and attend the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium. I attended the symposium entitled “Secret Daughter”, this was a documentary done by June Cross. She introduced the film and let the audience embrace the documentary, and form their own opinions on what it meant. The documentary took us on a journey through June Cross’s adolescence and how it was out of the ordinary compared to others. June Cross is black and has a white mother and black father, and back in the mid 1900’s this seemed to pose a problem with social status. June’s parents separated when she was very young and June would not see her dad throughout her childhood. But June’s mother could not handle having a black daughter and would have to ship June away to a black family. It is a very intriguing story because it shows the relationship between mother and daughter and how the color of someone’s skin can affect that relationship. I liked the structure and opinions expressed in this film and how the main character June Cross is so open about her feelings and events that took place in her life.

HW 28: Letter to Riverbend

Dear Riverbend,
You have made some interesting and startling revelations about what you and the rest of the Iraqi people have to go through on a daily basis. The most alarming information that you provided me with was the rotating system of presidents and how each of them have affected the way you live. The fact that there are nine rotating presidents for Iraq is ridiculous and a clear sign that America has no intention of helping this country in the long run. Another aspect of the reading that stood out to me was the information you provided about the reconstruction of Iraq and how Iraqi engineers are not involved in this process. You have brought up good points, why use foreign engineers when you can hire Iraqi engineers for a cheaper price? This is not the only problem but also the style of art that is put into these manmade landmarks is priceless for your people. I respect that and if you want people of your nation to construct those things, then there should be nothing holding that back. I am deeply saddened by the situation that my country has put you and the rest of your nation in. It is hard to understand why this has happened but now I think we need to look forward to the future and solve these obstacles that are right in front of you.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

HW 27: Annotated Bibliography Of Baghdad Burning

Riverbend, Baghdad Burning, Girl Blog from Iraq First Feminist Press Edition, 2005Ahdaf Soueif,
This novel Baghdad Burning is written by a blogger only known by Riverbend, who lives right in the thick of the battle in Baghdad. Her unique and insightful view of the ongoing conflict in Iraq should give audiences a brand new way to look at the relationship between the United States and Iraq. This is not the only thing that you will find in Baghdad Burning though, Riverbend also offers us a perspective of how a woman has to live and act in a Middle Eastern country like Iraq. This could seem challenging at some points and even more of a challenge when there is a war going on right on her doorstep. Do not under estimate Riverbend, she if very knowledgeable in the field of politics in the United States and Iraq. This is evident in Baghdad Burning, she knows about the conflict of oil, rule and the importance of the suicide killings. As the novel progresses so does your concern and fear for Riverbend, will she and her love ones make it?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

HW 25: Responding to the Intro and Foreword

Baghdad Burning is a written account of a women’s experience in the Iraqi War, this women is known as Riverbend. The foreword of this novel is written by Ahdaf Soueif, in this Ahdaf explains that Riverbend is explaining her experiences and tribulations of her everyday life in Iraq. This book is not Anti-American at all; Ahdaf tells us that Riverbend just wanted the public to know what a person had to go through in this wartime. This foreword differs from the introduction written by James Ridgeway in that it is more focused on the life of Riverbend, while Ridgeway gives us a background of the relations between the U.S. and Iraq throughout the years. Both are intriguing and give us a good feel for the novel and the problems that Riverbend and other Iraqi citizens have been exposed to. When reading the history of Iraq and the “Bush War”, it seemed a little repetitive since I already had a good sense of what has happened. This is because I have had to study this subject earlier in my high school career and written papers on this conflict.

HW 24: Where is my Room?

I must say that I don’t have a room of my own. It seems pretty hard to believe since we have so many resources today that would allow me to have my own room. I run into one problem though, I am not open to a lot of new ideas and thoughts. “The whole of the mind must lie wide open if we are to get the sense that the writer is communicating his experience with perfect fullness” (Woolf, Chapter 6). As Woolf says there is no way to find completeness without throwing yourself completely into your work. I cannot do this because I don’t have a room to let these thoughts out. Maybe because there has not been a place that I call mine, I’ve always shared places with others. Another problem I have ran into is my narrow minded self, I always thought I was a sensitive person but when looking at the bigger picture I am mistaken. When looking at most situations in my life I have taken a prejudice to my own sex, I do not know if it was instilled in me or just a view I have chosen. “But, alas, I had done what I had determined not to do; I had slipped unthinkingly into praise of my own sex” (Woolf, Chapter 5). This is evidence that it is not just me that falls into this prejudice, after pondering this thought I have come to the conclusion that it is just our nature to do this. We have a certain attachment to our sex and Woolf is trying to attempt this bridge to understanding the other sex.

HW 23: Responding as Virginia Woolf

With Apologies to Virginia Woolf,
This article entitled Giuliani: Dems Will Change Minds on Iraq is a perfect example of the smearing that takes place in the government. One must think that on this website, Democratic National Committee Blog that there would be an article of this magnitude. To have a website dedicated to the Democratic Party, the content that is within will be only to benefit their own. Rudy Giuliani a Republican is the target of this article, Giuliani made statements about democratic presidential candidate Clinton and her views on the Iraq War. It is not a surprise that a narrow headed republican like Giuliani would try and discredit the word of a woman with power in this country. One has to understand that only men’s opinions are worth being taken note of, while women like Clinton need to stay in the kitchen and raise the kids. These thoughts run ramped in our society today and will continue until one thinks of a reason to change these views.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071029/giuliani-democrats/ Link to post.

HW 22: Is the United States a Patriarchy?

Woolf has a problem with the paper because it showed that England was run by men. There is no evidence of women in this paper and the only one mentioned is very skeptical. “Mr justice —— commented in the Divorce Courts upon the Shamelessness of Women. Sprinkled about the paper were other pieces of news. A film actress had been lowered from a peak in California and hung suspended in mid–air” (Woolf, Chapter 2). Woolf has reason to believe that England is a patriarchy, the only time women are mentioned are in a bad sense or they have to be in Hollywood. Everything else in this paper is about how men run the government, sports and every other aspect of England. Now is this the same in our newspapers today? I took a look at the New York Times and it was pretty startling what I found. After seeing the front page and the main articles I found most were written by men and about men. Now there were articles about women and their actions in society but they were found in the later sections of the paper. Is this proof that America is a patriarchy? I believe this is not true, but women do need to be more recognized in our society and have more power in main stream news. Woolf would not be happy with the progress we have made, but she would also understand that there is improvement and that there is potential for more development.

HW 21: Dear Rascal

Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own is a little hard to understand but let me try and help you out squirt. Virginia opens up with a description of what is to happen in the rest of the novel, and how she has to answer some of these questions she was asked to answer. The main question is women and fiction and she thinks about this idea in a couple of different of ways. She first visits the imaginary college of Oxbridge, this college is all men and women are not allowed in the library or the grass. She is making the point that women do not have rights at this sort of college and how upsetting and ridiculous this is. Virginia next has lunch at this college and realizes how nice it is, with the service and dessert, everything is perfect. Next she visits the college Fernham which is a women’s college that is located right near Oxbridge. This college is nothing compared to Oxbridge, this is because it is a women’s college and back in the 1920’s they were not as well equipped as men’s. Again this upsets Virginia and she then discusses the issue of women and why they were not able to leave anything for their children. I feel that she runs on about women and how they should be treated equally and how things should change for women in our society. This is good to hear and learn about, but Virginia seems to run on at some points and might become a little repetitive. Good luck Rascal and make sure you tell your teacher all the things you’ve learned from this chapter.

HW 21: Dear Rascal

Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own is a little hard to understand but let me try and help you out squirt. Virginia opens up with a description of what is to happen in the rest of the novel, and how she has to answer some of these questions she was asked to answer. The main question is women and fiction and she thinks about this idea in a couple of different of ways. She first visits the imaginary college of Oxbridge, this college is all men and women are not allowed in the library or the grass. She is making the point that women do not have rights at this sort of college and how upsetting and ridiculous this is. Virginia next has lunch at this college and realizes how nice it is, with the service and dessert, everything is perfect. Next she visits the college Fernham which is a women’s college that is located right near Oxbridge. This college is nothing compared to Oxbridge, this is because it is a women’s college and back in the 1920’s they were not as well equipped as men’s. Again this upsets Virginia and she then discusses the issue of women and why they were not able to leave anything for their children. I feel that she runs on about women and how they should be treated equally and how things should change for women in our society. This is good to hear and learn about, but Virginia seems to run on at some points and might become a little repetitive. Good luck Rascal and make sure you tell your teacher all the things you’ve learned from this chapter.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

HW 19: Let Our Soldier's Write

Why can’t we look at blogs from our soldiers across the seas in Iraq? This question was raised when I was reading the book Blog! for an assignment. I was reading the chapter Web of Influence written by Daniel W. Drezner and Henry Farrell. This chapter dealt with the blogging community and how it has expanded throughout the world. In other words, the chapter is explaining how popular blogging has become and now there are other countries in the world that are contributing to the blogosphere. What I found interesting in this chapter was a paragraph that described censorship in South Korea and the United States. South Korea had blocked some foreign blogs because it has been said that some of these blogs contain video recordings of a South Korean being beheaded in Iraq. But even more important, this paragraph says that blogs written by soldiers in Iraq have been shut down. Now the excuse for this is that sensitive information might be transferred, this is a bunch of bullshit. I am almost certain all of us know why this was shut down, because the army and the United States government have a certain image to keep. They don’t want a soldier telling stories of Iraq that might upset or raise controversy in the American public. I really don’t have a strong opinion about our involvement in this war and whether or not we should bring the troops home. My point is that while our soldiers are over in the Middle East they should have the right to express their experiences and feelings with the people they love back home.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

HW 18: Giuliani, Dissapointing News

After asking us to find our least favorite blog post of the week, there was a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to find one that I would disagree with or just didn’t like. Surprisingly enough though it took me less than a full two minutes to find a blog that was upsetting to me. I found this blog through the Democratic National Committee: Blog. This article was about presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani and his recent comments that have got him in trouble with the public. He claimed to have added a certain amount of officers to the New York City Police force during his term as Mayor. This period was between the years of 1994-2000, it turns out that he was wrong about this number, and this caused a little more investigation into his other claims. It turns out that other things that Giuliani has claim to done in the past years have been found to be false or an exaggeration. This is not a huge deal to the campaign for his presidency but to me it hurt to read this article. I have been a strong supporter of Giuliani and the work he did in the city of New York but now he has been lying and I do not respect that very much. If you want to check this article out yourself check it out at http://www.factcheck.org/cop-counting_cop-out.html.

HW 17B: Answering Questions Behind the Scene

For this assignment we have been asked to pick a blog that would influence the way I would vote in an upcoming election. The two blogs we had to choose from were that of Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and Ana Marie Cox. When reading the interviews about both of these bloggers I came to find that Markos would have the greatest effect on my vote for the election. My first reason would be that I am a Democrat and that Markos seems to have a better grasp on the election and the truths that are behind each campaign. Ana does have an interesting and straight forward personality that helps her relate to the younger crowd but it is just not for me. When looking at the interview it seems that she takes these subjects of the election and the power of voting not as seriously as Markos does. Not to put her down because she is a much better writer than me but it seems that her work is just about the money. She wants to get money and do as less work as possible so she can live her life the way she wants to while Markos is there for the people. He wants to unveil the truth about democrats that are there for the money but not the cause. “One problem I write about on the blog, and that we’re going to try and address in our consulting work, is the influence that traditional democratic consultants and media firms have over the party. They’re not really interested in winning the elections. They’re only interested in making money” (44, Zuniga). When Markos said this I knew he wanted the people to know that even in his party there is many flaws, and I commend him because usually they try and cover these things up. He also has plans to use the money for the election in a positive and productive way. He wants to use it to help stock up on field organizers and developing strategies to help win the election for the Democrats.

Blog!, David Kline and Dan Burstein,
Quoted from Markos Moulitas Zuniga

Thursday, October 4, 2007

HW 17: Desperate House Wives in Trouble with the Philippines

The blog that I decided to look at today was Global Voices Online- Thailand. On this website I found an interesting post that has caused a lot of controversy with the Filipino people. These people are responding to a recently aired episode of “Desperate House Wives”, a popular television show on ABC. In this episode one of the characters uses “racist slurs” against Filipino medical professionals basically knocking their profession. Now ABC issued an apology to this episode which was a whole paragraph long, and these people that are outraged believe they are due a more formal apology. After reading this post I have found that media and what is said even in fictional television shows are taken very seriously and are paid very close attention to. This was not the only response to this incident that had taken place on this primetime hit, there are 499 blog posts responding to this very controversial issue that is starting a fire under the Filipino people. In their eyes they contribute a great amount to the American medical society and are respected in their field. Also, in the Philippines people believe that their medical system is respected and should not be under ridicule and the butt of some jokes in American main stream media. I too believe that this was an uncalled for low blow at the Philippines’ medical society and there should be a more serious apology issued to the Filipino people. I know there would be uproar in America if a television show in the Philippines was taking shots at doctors in America saying that they were not credible. My belief is that treat others as you would yourself. But make your own opinion and check out the blog post at http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/10/04/philippines-desperate-housewives-apologizes-over-racist-slur/.

HW 16: Blogging Helping the Music Industry

While reading the chapter The Blog Business: It’s More Like Music Than Publishing, I became a little bored. Nothing against John Battelle, but relating business and blogging really isn’t my main interest in life. So I read the chapter as I was supposed to and then I came across the section that mentioned how small audiences can find their interests easier with the use of blogging. Then John brings up an example of this, he uses the producer Danger Mouse and how he got overnight success. Danger Mouse wasn’t a well known producer until he came out with the Grey Album which is a mash up of the Beatles White Album, and Jay-Z’s Black Album. John claims that with this Grey Album the word got tossed around the internet and people started reacting in an astonishing way. “He had something like a million downloads of his album in a week! It was really, I think, the first example of a smash hit in the music business that had nothing to do with a music label at all” (Battelle, 166). That is amazing to me, that he could have this much response in a week, and it is all because of the internet. After seeing this I had to learn more and actually looked up the album and listened to it. I really like Danger Mouse’s work and found out that he was part of another group Gnarles Barkley, I also like this group that he is in but never knew he was a part of it. The more important result of this reading and researching is that I did learn that blogging can have an effect on marketing and business. The way the information was presented this time though, with a current and interesting example helped me understand the concept better, so that may be a suggestion for others trying to get their point across. That is what blogs are trying to do essentially as John would say, trying to get that personal bond with the consumer.

Blog!, David Kline and Dan Burstein,
Quote is from interview with John Battelle

Monday, October 1, 2007

HW 14: Response to Nick Denton

Although some might disagree with a lot of points that are brought up in Nick Denton’s interview, I seem to agree with mostly everything he says. Hence, when Nick explains why he only hires unknown writers because of their fight and eagerness to get the news out, I understand this point. Actually I don’t just understand this point, I agree with it. After all when you let people that have had no chance to showcase their talent, they usually try their hardest to get the job done to the highest of their capability. Furthermore, Nick also gave his opinion that in some cases bloggers can be more credible than newspapers but most of the time it is the other way around. For example when a person wants to learn more about global warming, they would trust an article they would see in The New York Times than on blogger.com. That is exactly how I would of went about getting information for global warming because we have more trust in newspapers. Since the beginning of our existence we have been getting our news from newspapers and it would take the majority of our population to change our viewpoints, and trust the blogging world for our news. Therefore I take sides with Nick in saying that it will a while or even never before blogging is recognized as a credible place for Americans to get their worldly news.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

HW 13: Business and Blogging, Two of a Kind

In my opinion blogging has had a huge effect on businesses today. With every expansion of a company or business there is a blog that will pop up and grow right along with it. While reading the chapter “Blogs Will Change Your Business”, from the book blog!, authors Stephen Baker and Heather Green bring up some fascinating points that support my opinion. Each company has a concern with blogs these days because it is a dynamic threat. “While you may be putting it off, you can bet that your competitors are exploring ways to harvest new ideas from blogs, sprinkle ads into them, and yes, find out what you and other competitors are up to” (Baker and Green, 223). Blogs have revolutionized the way companies can keep tabs on almost every aspect of their business. They can see what products their competitors are planning on coming out with and how their new merchandise will fair against their rivals. They can also keep tabs on how the consumer likes the product and the customer service of the company. With this knowledge the company can customize any characteristic that needs to be modified to please the consumer and to keep up with the competition.

Kline, Dave, Burstein, Dan, blog!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

HW 11: Blogging Around the World

I chose to view Isaac Mao’s blog for this assignment. It is a pretty bland blog website, just a lot of text and some advertising. I can tell that Mao wants to just get his opinions across through this blog he is not concerning himself with the appearance of the website. Most of the blogs are about this new technology that is coming out that will have a robot for each person which is actually pretty intriguing. The latest though is about the censorship the Chinese government is putting on the internet, this was mentioned in Rebecca MacKinnon’s interview. Rebecca gave an accurate description of this blog and it is a free-spoken person who wants change. He is critical of how the Chinese government is censoring the people of China and he is right in thinking so. Government officials in China, of course, may want to dispute my claim that Mao’s views are helpful to the Chinese people. They would protest that China does not need these negative comments and that Mao needs to be more supportive of China’s policies to help clean up the internet.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

HW 9: The Good and Bad That Comes With Blogging

After, reading the title for the chapter “A Weblog Saved My Life Last Night”, I became very intrigued and wanted to know more. In this chapter you hear about Ayelet Waldman’s personal life and her opinions about blogging. There were some interesting points brought up about blogging and I have come to find that I agree with many of these statements. Mrs. Waldman explains that bloggers have a different voice then people that would write to a newspaper. She states that when you blog it is needed to have a bigger or more profound voice to get your opinions heard. I cannot agree more with Mrs. Waldman on this subject, bloggers differ from other writers because of the attitude that goes into their written work. She also believes that when blogger’s write it is more out of anger than positive thoughts. From what I have seen from blogger’s I would have to concur with this statement. When I read blog’s it is usually complaining about a subject or issue, rarely I will see a positive blog. It is not a bad thing but it would be okay to see some more optimistic blog’s that people could get encouragement from. I did not agree with everything Mrs. Waldman said during this chapter, one point stuck out to me though. Mrs. Waldman protests that blogging is a great place to meat strangers, and on these sites you are able to open up with these strangers and get helpful advice. I think Mrs. Waldman is mistaken because she overlooks the fact that these strangers are not completely reliable. The main word in that sentence would have to be strangers, since growing up it has been implanted in each person’s head that you cannot trust strangers. I cannot open up with a stranger that I have not met in person and have not seen what this individual is like. How do you know if this advice is going to be helpful? It is too risky to have trust in a person with your deepest affairs when you don’t even know what they look like.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

HW 7: The Parent Protection Agency

Do you think it is okay for a 13 year old to have his parents looking through his e-mails, text messages and IM’s? It is not appropriate for parents to do these kinds of things, by the time your son or daughter is in middle school they need to have some privacy. These forms of communication that kids use today are still supposed to be private. When parents look at their children’s technologies they use to communicate they should remember that these technologies are like a diary. As Emily Nussbaum states in her article, “My So Called Blog,” diaries were taken very seriously in a teenager’s life. “Back in the 1980’s, when I attended high school, reading someone’s diary would have been the ultimate intrusion.”(Kline and Burnstein, 351). Emily is stating that parents know how it is to have something like a diary and should respect their children’s “online diaries”. I feel like it is an intrusion when you look at text messages or IM’s because personal things are said to one another. I would not expect my parents to come and look through my phone try and find the text messages and read them while I am not present. That is disrespectful and parents may think that they are being mature and a good parent by doing this but it is childish.

Kline and Burstein, Blog!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

HW 6: Interest Statement for Semester-Long Project

When it comes to social computing my top interests would have to be, aggregators, instant messaging and social networking services. Aggregators interest me because they allow me to get what I want in one established place. For example I frequently use ITunes, which is an aggregator. YouTube can also be classified as an aggregator which I also use a lot. Instant messaging interests me too because I am able to talk to my friends easily without waiting for the e-mail to send and get back. With instant messaging I can just IM them whenever I want and get a response back in one second. My last interest is social networking services such as Face book. This program is used by almost high scholar and college student, so it is to be expected that it would appeal to me.
I am interested in how refugees are being treated around the world. It is an ongoing problem and after learning about the struggles of refugees over the past couple years, I have grown an appeal to the subject. Another issue that I want to pursue would be that of illegal immigration. This problem is growing in America especially and I want to find out how my age group feels about this issue. The last thing that I want to draw more attention to is the rights and empowerment of poor or working-class people. I take interest to this subject because I can relate. My family has been part of the working class for a while and many of friends have had financial problems. I want to find out what rights we have and which rights we do not have.

HW 5b: What is the Problem With Main Stream Media?

In the chapter I Blog, Therefore I Am, David Kline protests that blogging will take over the mainstream media. Kline comes out with many facts that emphasize his point that newspapers, magazines and television are losing their fan base that they once had. In fact, they celebrate the fact that online use only increases in numbers while other sources for news are declining. When first reading this I would have to strongly disagree with these claims and found myself laughing at some points. When I thought that this chapter was going nowhere, Kline starts to contradict his earlier statements and verifies my beliefs that main stream media is still a major part in our world today. Main stream media will actually profit off of blogs, Kline admits. Then Kline goes back to the fact that blogs and other easily accessible media to the normal person are growing in popularity at an alarming rate. Kline claims that blogging gives citizens the voices they never had before in our society. People are getting a chance to express their ideas on a bigger stage where their voices will be heard.
My main concern with this chapter would have been the allegation that main stream media is dying. I know that Kline says later that this is not completely true, but he does not protest this point very well. He focuses more on the point that blogging is the future and newspapers and television will fail in keeping up. It just pisses me off that he contradicts himself later and plays it off like there is nothing wrong with that.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

HW 5: Is Gatorade Really the Thirst Quencher

After searching my dorm room for a product to use for this assignment, I have come to find the popular drink Gatorade. After searching online for their website I found that there promise was to be the thirst quencher. It also says this on their bottle and the millions of commercials that have been advertised over the years. It seems that Gatorade’s marketing scheme is to keep its motto’s short and simple, but they also get the point across very well by doing this. The Gatorade Company also claims to rehydrate, replenish and refuel. After reading through the whole website though I have found that these are not just claims, these are facts. It has been proven in laboratories that Gatorade replenishes the athlete’s body faster and better than any other liquid. When they promise you these things on the website there are articles that prove all of the promises which I find impressive. In my opinion, Gatorade is right, they do have the drink that quenches your thirst.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

HW 3: Summary of Chapter One

When reading the first chapter of the book Blog!, there were some main points that stuck out. The title of this chapter was, Toward a More Participatory Democracy, written by David Kline. In this chapter the author discusses the importance of blogging and the ideas expressed in some of these blogs. The main idea in this chapter though is the influence that bloggers are having in the political scene. When this book was published the election for the 2004 presidency was just ending. According to Kline these bloggers had a helping hand in the outcome of the election. The reason for this ever growing influence in the political world is that Americans have lost trust in main stream media. They do not desire to watch the news or read newspapers because they have been told lies. Another reason for the ever increasing popularity in blogging is that bloggers are able to say what they want. Bloggers are not censored or forced to say things that they do not desire to say. Kline claims that in media these day’s they are not allowed to express all of their ideals. Also bloggers give audiences stories that other media sources will not because the story may be controversial and not appropriate for television. It is often said that main stream media avoids controversy. When reflecting on this chapter I find myself torn. I feel that I agree with some of Kline’s ideas but I also disagree with some of his claims. I agreed with him that the election was affected by online blogging. I disagree with the fact though that he discredits almost any television source. I believe that there are some things on television that I can believe more than blogging.

HW 2: Will Blog's Ever Catch Main Stream Media?

After reading Burstein’s 12 key ideas in “From Cave Painting to Wonkette”, I have found one idea that has stuck out to me. Burstein claims that, “blogs will coexist with other media for a long time to come, and there will be continual interactions and cross-fertilizations. (Burstein,xxii)” I agree that blogging is being used more commonly in our society, but I would not go as far to say that it will be on the same level with other media outlets. When asking my friends and classmates I have seen that blogging is very rarely used in the young age group. It would make sense that blogging would catch on to the younger age group because it involves computer technology which teens use frequently. Teens don’t use this technology because we have a sense of security with television and newspapers. We were brought up watching the news with our parents not sitting around the computer reading blogs. That is why I would have to disagree with Burstein’s statement that blogs will be on the same level as main stream media.


D. Kline, D. Burstein, (2005), Blog!, New York, Squibnocket Partners LLC.