Thursday, December 3, 2009

Revised Pieces

I chose to revise my process blog, and my web redesign proposal memo.

For my process blog I want to go back in and fix a couple of things:
-edit the posts, go back and make them flow better, break them up
-add more video, more media to make my page more appealing
-possible color scheme change...haven't fully decided on that yet
-change the description..make it more generalized
-edit my about me

I also decided to change my proposal memo from the web redesign project.
For this one I want to do basic editing of grammar, spelling and then I want to reconstruct it. Revise it so it comes out shorter and gets to the point quicker, take out some detail and make it more exact

Kimball Reading

After reading this article my main thoughts are that based on context I think academic portfolios are a great way to get introduced to professional portfolios. Academic portfolios allow you to practice what goes into them and the editing process behind them.

In the discussion box on the second page writes about how a student provided a brief introduction to each piece she included. I know that in past portfolios I've done I have never had to introduce each piece but just had to write a reflective introduction. I think that even though it may be more work introducing each piece briefly is a great idea. I think it lets you focus on the one piece at hand and not think of the portfolio as a whole like you do in the reflective introduction. I think it narrows your focus for better explanation.

The Web: I think web portfolios are a great idea, they allow you to add more diverse things to your portfolio and they let more people access it. However, I also think that a portfolio should be something you hold in your hand, factual evidence that you accomplished something. Having something in print is more reliable that typed text. Showing someone you did the work and you have it in person, I think is way better than sending or sharing it over the Internet. I also think constructing a web portfolio is a lot harder than doing it with real paper. I need to be able to hold the things that I created, I need to be able to know where I want them, where they need to be placed, and I need to lay them out to see that. I can't do that on the Internet like the way I want too. I think it is a lot harder to organize my thoughts at least by looking at a computer screen than looking at a messy floor covered in papers.

Monday, November 30, 2009

reflection 3

For the last reflection on this project I decided to wait until we got to do peer review. For the workshop day we were told to finish up what we were working on and I think as a whole we finished strong. Our site was altered for the design and I think it looks pretty spiffy. 

For myself, I think this project project was pretty good. I found it easy yet challenging at the same time. I was in charge of the events and I think I chose some decent events. I didn't  really have any problems with this part but I did have trouble with putting a song on my personal page. I had to uploaded the song from my home computer because my laptop doesn't have all my music on it. When I uploaded it, it worked without any problems, and I opened it up on different computers and different browsers and it was fine. When I checked it again before leaving for school this morning it wouldn't work but unfortunately I didn't have time to fix it. So hopefully I can figure it out because currently it's out of order. 

Other than my music mishap everything went smoothly, and we worked really well together. 

Sunday, November 29, 2009

reflection 2

During our last class the group was really ahead of the game. We decided who was commenting on the disucssion boards, which was everyone, respond to everyone. And we had to finalize the details of our own tasks. We left it so we didnt have a lot of work over break, so it worked out quiet well.

Our group is working well together and the project is going smoothly; it's interesting and gets you involved. Not to mention sharpens your web skills, but I think this is a good group project because the work is split up evenly.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cause Site Reflection

Our group decided to Animal Abuse as our topic and so far its going really well. Our group works really well together, I think it's best group I've been in all year. We all have topics that we care deeply about so it works out well for our site, we each are focusing on one area and we have organized ourselves quiet well this far into the project.

We each decided what we would talk about in our discussion and blog posts, and I chose to discuss the laws and legislation for the blog and for the discussion I chose to examine slaughter houses. We gave ourselves deadlines so that everything would be put up on time and no one would be waiting and so far it has worked out well.

While I was doing some research on this topic I really found myself upset and angry. I did this topic in another class but it was focused on animal testing in laboratories and I was all by myself. I like this project because it allows all issues to be looked at and your not doing it all by yourself which makes it better especially with animal abuse. I look at my group members as others who care about animal abuse so it's nice to have them there for support of the project.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Discussion Forum

My group decided that for our discussion board we would each pick a topic to talk about. We would each tell a case of cruelty that was currently going on. The topics that we chose for our blog are now becoming our discussion board questions. I will be doing a post on slaughter.

So the point of this post would be to inform about what the blog will be about since our discussion board has been filled already. Our blog will be meant to inform and we all chose something that related to our topic that we felt was important enough to have a post. Our categories were:

ways to report abuse
animal testing
laws & legislation
fur trade/clothing

I will be doing a post on laws and legislation regarding animal abuse.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Blog Topics for Cause

-The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are to be held in Vancouver, Canada. Currently Canada is undergoing a "seal slaughter" meaning people are killing poor baby seals for fashion purposes. With the games being held there, there is much controversy regarding these killings. They are scheduled to be stopped but with dwindling support the killings are slowly starting again.

-The University of Utah recently got in a lot of trouble for inhumane animal testing on dogs, cats, rats, monkeys, rabbits, cows, pigs, and sheep. Currently this testing is still underway and animals are being studied and ripped apart for their pain to be studied.

-IHOP is using a caged method for all their chickens who lay eggs and the chickens are abused and neglected and left in inhumane cages. IHOP is neglecting to find alternative methods such a cage-free feeding for their chickens, and their customers are unhappy.



After all my research these are the 3 that I thought were most important and most recent.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Ning.com

My initial reaction to Ning is that its a mix between facebook and a blog. Its got the causes right in front of you that give you a little expert on what the cause is about, kind of like a status update on facebook but the same causes are laid out like a blog. I think this site so far is pretty interesting and somewhat easy to navigate once you get the hang of it.
I went on some of the causes that were on the front home page and I think the concept of this is really great. A cause is created and then instead of maybe asking for donations or just informing you they ask and allow feedback which is good. And it also allows you to voice yourself, to video yourself to explain your cause which I think is a really good tool to have on the site, it allows people to really understand the reason for the cause and it lets the creator put themselves out there.

I think once I get used to how to use the site it will be easier to use but overall I think this is a really interesting, well laid out site. And its for a good cause...or causes.

Lance Bennett article

After reading this article I agree with this one more, I believe it has a more realistic approach to the future and the technology and the path its taking.

1.The article states that the citizenship style is more effective, it gives people the option to be engaged in government issues. Bennett understands that if information is forced upon you that it will be less effective than if the option is presented. Like the other article stated information on the internet is echoed through and forms a trickle down effect....this echo is what this style is a trickle down effect that allow people to gain their information through high populated areas and by staying in contact with their own friends rather than the gov't.

2.The other thing that is stated is the DC and AC citizens. DC citizens are old school, they are formed by the old ways, the ways before technology came along. Now we are going through the change of how we get our news and information and the AC citizens come into play. The AC citizens are based on individuality and are centered around the ideas that voting is less important, it is less important due to negative advertisement on media and government. The AC citizens are based on themselves, they do things for themselves, and in a sense that is good but in the future it will lead to everyone being for themselves and creating world peace or any peace at all with working together will be impossible. I think a balance between AC and DC citizens is the best method.

3. It seems that both articles are based on getting young people to be involved in the government. This article sees fit that it is most efficient to do so in schools. By changing the curriculum and they methods of teaching schools will be teaching students how to be individuals and be able to solve public problems....in a way creating little government officials. The other article saw it fit to go about the internet and get people involved. I think that changing curriculum is a good ideas but not changing it so that kids are put through school for the government in the future. But the article also states a good point that adult created programs are based on what kids "should" do and not what they can do, and I believe that is how they should go about changing the curriculum, by keeping that idea in the main frame.

Danah Boyd article

After reading the article I have come to one overall conclusion but was lead there by many scattered ideas which are shown throughout the article. The main things that I got out of this article were:
1. When the article opens Boyd discusses how people need to be motivated to be more encouraged about the government and changing in means of the internet or SNSes. My thought on that is that, I think that is a very scary idea. If the government wants to get more involved with the SNSes and internet...a place where people are "free" do explore what they want I think that they will start to take control of things in a way to alter their campaign or what not. I think that people will possibly become less interested in the internet because they government has so much involvement in it.

2.With that said though, I also believe that the government getting more involved with the internet could be a good thing. If candidates are campaigning online and are trying to encourage more people to get interested in what they are doing that they might inform us more on what goes on within the system...highly doubtful but its a chance. The government using the internet to inform people I think is alright but what candidates want to do to SNSes I think is wrong. People join social networks to be with their friends like the article said, and people also choose what content they see on the internet based on their interests...the government usually isnt someones interest...because its depressing like the article said about the war in Iraq compared to Hollywood gossip which is interesting.

3.The article also discusses how people on SNSes can allow people to be whoever they choose, they can be an online celebrity. Well my thought is if people can do that they obviously the candidates can do that, the ones that are featured on the SNSes. And if the candidates do it then no one will never know anything. The article also says that the internet has no walls, no boundaries.... for the government thats not good. Meaning if there are no walls there is a small filter on what stays private and what doesnt. A possibility of all of this government involvement could mean that people dont get to choose what they do on these sites anymore, and they dont have a choice but to look at the government content. But at the same time the public would hate that and probably do something to change it.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

SNS

After reading the article it reminds me of the presentation that was done on web 2.0. Since web 2.0 is based on communication SNSes were created to keep people up-to-date on people lives by the minute. The article says they choose not to use the word "networking" because that means relationships are formed, well if the point of web 2.0 and sns are to create communication that I think relationships go in hand with that communication. Whether people are strangers are not they are still searching the web for a common goal, and I think forming relationships over the internet are better than having impersonal relationships and only being on the computer for yourself. And not to mention you cant call something a social networking site if you choose not to use the word thats in the title. It kind of seems like an oxy moron.
Social networking sites also provide a great mixture of people that belong to them, and it really connects people together, however I think if the internet was more personal like sometimes it claims to be, it could be closer and could connect more people, strangers that is.
I also think its rather funny that the first profiles were dating profiles and now there are so many types of profiles for everything out there. Also the first SNS launched was sixdegrees.com which i think should have stuck because of the six degrees of separation, and even though it was ahead of its time I think if it was resurfaced people would really catch on. Although with that the site would have to be updated due to technological advances since '00. Looking at the timeline of SNS I can remember when LiveJournal came out, and I remember when a lot of these networks slowly fell off the radar.
I think now SNSes are created for the convience to the internet user, there are so many networks out there and there are millions of people using them, but sometimes there could be too many. And these networks have taken over the world, in a way its good because it keeps everybody connected in an instant but whatever happened to personal communication and getting to someone face to face and not through a screen.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

5 interests to raise awarness

1. Animal Abuse
2. Child Abuse
3. Endangered Species
4. World Hunger
5. Poverty

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Web Design-Proposal Memo

My part of the project was to write the proposal memo. I did this with great detail so that the work was distributed evenly and I wanted to provide all the points so that none were left out.

I think overall the paper went well, it turned out to be 3 pages exactly and I think it is the perfect length. During peer review the suggestion was made to condense it and make it under 3 pages. Since there was no page limit for the project I decided to keep it the way it was because the more detail the better the paper.

After the revision to the website I had to go back and fix the paper and add what we fixed. During this I got really confused on how to describe the alterations. I had the words but couldnt write them. The end of the paper took me longer than it did to write the first 3 pages. But now I feel that the paper is strong and gives great detail to the before and after website.

Web Design-Group

For this post I decided to reflect on the group since that was how this project was carried out. I think this project was necessary to do in a group, especially when you have students who know how to do certain things and others who dont. I think overall the groups were put together evenly and I think my group in particular worked decently well together.

We had an even number of people who knew how to do web design, and others who didnt. For the ones who knew how to do it, we let them actually redesign the page, and the others were responsible for the site map and writing.

I think the work for each person was evenly distributed and each person put in the same amount of work. We worked well together although I think that more communication could have made it better. Luckily all our parts were done individually and tied together perfectly.

Web Design

To be completely honest in these I will say that this project is the most difficult for me because of the task at hand and the group work. Usually I work best by myself, I can get myself through it but I can go at my own pace and I can organize what needs to get done and when. Working with groups limits that, but this luckily I was paired with a good group who knew what they were doing.

My problem with this project is that it's all about the web redesign, me not knowing how to use a computer the way this course requires, makes it extremely difficult to understand whats going on. I know the basic concept of how to get around, I can do it, but I dont understand it. I know that you dont have to be able to understand the Internet but you have to be able to use. That is not ok with me at all, in the slightest bit. I want to be able to understand what I'm doing, if I dont then in this case it becomes a waste of my time, the teachers, the groups, and the money. Being able to work the Internet would be easier if I knew how to understand it.

Besides my horrible understanding of the Internet, my part of the project is about the only thing I can do. I feel since I cant make a good contribution to the actual design, I can describe using my words. The proposal memo took me a decent amount of time, I wanted to add a lot of detail to it so that I could do my part in the paper.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Google Sites

I think google sites is pretty cool, it really allows people to have some privacy out there. The website example of the family was really interesting to me, I was thinking about ways that you could really connect with distant relatives maybe or relatives that live out of state. With the side sites, google docs, calendar, and google talk families can what what others are doing every second of every day, and can constantly keep the website up to date.

Google is taking over, this is the first I have ever heard of something like this and it's pretty interesting. Google has made the Internet so easy and private that it really has endless possibilities. For me not being a computer whiz, this doesn't look that hard to figure out, I'm excited to try it out.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

good/bad websites

www.facebook.com

I chose facebook at the good website. I chose it because besides being a major information ecology, it really portrays good characteristics of being a good website. It doesnt have major linkage, its graphics and deatils are limited, and the links it does have are organized and managed. When information needs to get across to its users there are messages that are sent. I think it is managed well and it works well as a website.

For a bad website I chose Tolman High School's website. It is designed by the students, and even though it is an interlinkage website it doesnt work. There are key links missing, along with important information that in order to find you have to search deep within the text. There is no way to contact the faculty or a list or the faculty members. I dont think they should have let the students create it, or they should have monitored it better.

www.psdri.net/webs/tolman_high_school/index.html

Reaction to ch. 17

While I was reading this I knew that certain things appeared in websites for certain reasons but I didn't know they were strategically placed. For instances the pop-up windows are there because people are more likely to go back and read whats on the prior window after reading the pop-up.
And obviously the entire point of the Internet is to make everything convenient for the user. Page designers embed things specifically into the text to keep convenience flowing.
I think the interlinked page design is kind of self explanatory, aren't all web pages interlinked to the rest of the site, isn't that the point of the site? But I understand when the article states it's meant for smaller sites, it seems to be the smartest layout for the smaller site, the most convenient. And again the article states the obvious when they give the four points of web design. (be simple, keep good info, don't go for a lot of pictures)

I think the article itself is very obvious and in this day and age self explanatory. But at the same time it breaks down key concepts that are important like the way to design it.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

my thoughts on wiki #2

I got bored today and added to my wiki page, when I decided to do this I wanted to see if I could add without having to copy and paste the code for the template. When I did this I found it got easier the more I did. I was able to look at the entires above the one I was doing and it really helped.
On the last blog I did on this I was sick of talking about Poughkeepsie because it was frustrating to add all the information. Now I think it's easier since I've had practice, and I'm not so sick of Poughkeepsie anymore...which is really good.
As I look at my page and what I have done, compared to what was there before I started I am really proud of myself. As I've said before I am far from a computer person but I think I have the hang of this now and I like that I did it all by myself; with the occassional question here and there. I think I added a decent amount of information and I think my quality is good to. I wanted to add the places that I knew about and that I have been because I think that people would really enjoy them.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

reflection post on wiki travel 1

alright so I just did a good amount of editing on wiki and I have to say this could be the biggest pain in the butt I've ever had to deal with. I've been sitting in front of the computer since 2pm and its now 5, and that entire time has been dedicated to wiki. So if I dont get a good grade on this project I'm going to be very upset. I think I did everything well, I got through it so that must count for something. But in a couple of the sections wouldnt let me follow the format and would come out all messed up. Most of those I got through and fixed and they were fine but some of the things I wanted to add I just gave up on for right now, it was way to frustrating. Hopefully since I've gotten the feel for the site the second time around won't be so annoying and frustrating. Other than that it's going well, I have realized that I love my town very much but at this point I am so sick of talking about it.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Possible Entries

From the wiki articles I learned that the way the articles are written in a certain way and there is a certain tone that must be created. There are numerous things and links that cannot be left out of the article.

My possible articles would be:

DO:
Walkway Over The Hudson: get on at Parker Ave on Poughkeepsie side. Just finished this October, the walkway is a piece of history that has been restored. The old railroad bridge caught fire in the mid-1970's due to either a spark from a train or a bolt of lightening that struck the bridge. The bridge was restored to form a 1.4 mile walk across the Hudson River. The walkway is free to walk over; open Monday-Sunday sunrise-to-sunset.

SLEEP:
Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel: 40 Civic Center Plaza +1-845-485-5300 (fax: +1-845-485-4720)reservations@pokgrand.com

Hampton Inn & Suites: 2361 South Road/ Rt. 9 +1-845-463-7500 (Fax +1-845-462-1474)

wiki style

3 important things to know about wiki style:

-I think it's a good idea to have all the articles in the same tone, it allows for common understanding and gets the same point across.

-I think having the currency conversion on a wiki page id good as well. It helps out travelers, but at the same time it could get crowded since there are many different currencies.

-Finally it says "don't tout" meaning don't push the issue or topic. The writer is supposed to remain nuetral and pushing an opinion would be against the rules.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

WikiTravel

Hyde Park, NY--I choose this as my number one place because it's my hometown, and I would love nothing more to talk about home since it's my favorite place in the World. Since Hyde Park already exists on wiki travel I would have to elaborate on the one that exisits. This works out perfectly because after looking at it I saw that there is a lot that is left out and should be in there. Such as resturants, attractions etc. If I could create my own itiniterary on wiki that would be better because I could start from scratch.

Poughkeepsie, NY-- I would definitly add to the existing one, the one that is up now is lacking good parts of Poughkeepsie. Poughkeepsie is one of the neighboring towns of Hyde Park so it will work out perfectly because it's all my home.

Salt Point, NY--Salt Point is not on wiki so I could create a new itinerary for it but Salt Point is a Hamlet...which is defined as being smaller than a town, it has one light in the entire Hamlet. I could create an itinerary that includes all the surrounding towns of Hyde Park. Hyde Park is not just all by iteself there are about 4 towns that surround it that all make up the town.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

wiki

travel-- my thoughts on wiki travel are different from my overall opinion of wiki. I think wiki travel is very helpful. Knowing that wiki is edited by educationed prefessionals and is on a world wide spectrum. Meaning the travel guides must be amazing. If you wanted to travel to another country, just do some background info on it by someone from that counrty. I think it's great for frequent traveling.

policies-- I think the polices for wiki travel are pretty standard and self explanatory, everything that you would expect. But I really like how wiki really wants to maintain a professional enviroment for information on traveling. I think that is helpful and a smart move.

goals--The goals of wiki I think are well put and to the point. I like that they state its not a travel magazine, but the articles should be brief and to the point. I also like that they tell you that it shouldnt be a travel chat room. That there are forums for that specifically for questions and concerns about personal experiences.

newcomers-- I think the welcome page for wikitravel is very well designed. when new comers come to the site they get the point directly from the first page. It tells the main points and allows you to click on links to be directed for further research.

Other-- While I looked around wiki travel I got interested in the other languages side board and I thought it was really great that they keep the same basic comcept without changing a lot of things. I thought the Travellers Pub was really interesting, it was a a collection of questions and conerns from people. I thought it was great that it allowed people to help others first hand.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Concern for Blog

I have my concerns that I wanted to post separately so that I can refer to them when I'm attempting to fix them. First is pictures, I wanted to put pictures up but staying in topic its hard to add pictures to my blog. But at the same time I dont want my readers to be sidetracked by little odds and ends on my page. The page is meant to be a semi-serious discussion and I dont want to take away from that.

Second is because I dont want to add a lot to my blog I'm a little afraid that I will get a lower grade because I dont have fancy things on my page. Now I know that's kind of silly to think but I think that my posts are the main focal point of the entire thing and I dont want to ruin that.

Third, does grammar count in these posts because I sure hope not.

Update 2

So I have discovered a fire plan for my posting times. Since I go off campus to Tolman I see a lot of the educational enviroment and how it works. When I go on my visits the first thing I do when I get back is blog about it. It allows me to keep my ideas fresh and helps me with my assignment for the off site visit. The things I see at school fuel my fire for my blog...they work hand in hand and its working out quite perfectly. I have also dicovered that my life is now being over taken by education. My job is in elementary school, my class is in high school, my blog is about education...I cant have any more education in my life. I'll go in education overload

Monday, September 28, 2009

Education blog status

So my education blog is going quite well since my change. I had it as NYS education and all its problems, but instead of being negative for 12 posts, I figured I should change it around and just do the quirks about education. I changed the description but my about me I decided to keep the same because it shows my passion for the topic. I want to keep my posts personal and conversational while discussing the bad things about eduation, the students and the way they present themselves in school, faculty and administration. Basically whatever I feel I want to discuss about education. Since changing it, it has become a lot easier to think of topics to discuss. I think my NYS blog might have been to narrow condisering that I'm not in the state of NY. I think this one will contiune to go smooth...hopefully

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

About Me Draft

Education is one of the most important things in the world and we are not using it the way we should. I am a secondary education major with a concentration area in English. I believe that our schools carry all the knowledge that we should be passing on to the kids, but we aren't, and this is a problem. The NY schools are slowly depleting in quality; our schools are run down and have poor curriculum. There are thousands of kids in the schooling system that we are supposed to be filling with knowledge but we can't because of numerous problems with the system. I want to become a teacher so that I can make a difference in the lives of children but to do that I sign myself up for a constant battle of inadequate resources and no one who's willing to help.

Why Me?

I chose my blog because I have a passion for teaching and I want to make a difference, the difference needs to made within the school district. I know that it will never be perfect but somethings can be fixed. I want my blog to be a discussion of interesting reasons why people think the school system needs to be renovated. I know that there are people out there that feel the same way I do about this. They most likely have kids within the system and see that their kids are suffering from the poor job of the school. I want this blog to encounter that and go deep within the reasons why.


Why should readers of my blog trust me? Because I have first hand experience of why the school systems of NY are failing. I was there to see the way the school was run, the curriculum was taught to me directly, and I see the way voters react to budget increases. I may not be a certified expert but first hand experience goes a long way. I am not just a previous student though, I am an education major who wants to make a difference in the school system so that when I finally get to be in my own classroom things will be better for the kids I plan to teach. My mother is a special education teacher and has been for 11 years now. I see her kids often and see how she interacts with them in their learning environment. I have been in schools as a mentor and have seen behind the scenes how all of it works. And now I want to fix it.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Enthusiast Blog Decision

For my enthusiast blog I am choosing to discuss problems with New York State Education. The audience that I hope to attract are teachers, students, parents, and concerned citizens of NY. I think that choosing this topic will help with the understanding of what is happening to the education system and the possible solutions to fix the problems. I think as an audience possible discussions would be ways to fix the problems, how did the problems arise, and how to avoid the same things in the future. On my blog I will have to have a professional tone to my writing, but I would also like to keep it casual as well. My readers I think will want to see that I care about this topic and that I have a strong opinion in the ideas that I hold. In addition to that my opinions are my own and I need to be careful not to impose on anyone else's opinion that may be posted on my blog.

Potential Blog Ideas:

Smaller Class Sizes
Teacher Aids In Regular Education Classrooms
Give Students who need outside classroom help (esl, reading, speaking) longer time with specified teacher
Raising standardized test scored
Possibility of exempting special education students of standardized testing
Special Education students & ways to better their resources

Friday, September 18, 2009

Information Architects Blog

I had an issue with this article in the sense that while I was reading it the page expired and I still cannot get it to work. So in my response I'll respond on how far I did get.

I agree with the comprehending information steps, I think that in order to understand information you need to test the information against ideas and concepts you already know and look at things from a different vantage point. I think that the article made this very clear and understandable. However, I do not agree with the author when he says that ignorance is something that our society looks down upon. We encourage our students and others to ask question and get answers. The author makes it seem that asking questions is a bad thing to do and I think he is relaying the wrong message.

On page 28 of the article he discusses how when we watch the news or some imformational tv program that we gain more knowledge watching the advertisment commercials and the celebrity gossip than we watching the actual news information. After reading this and creating my own opinion on it I must say that I do agree with him. I think people watch to much tv to begin with, not that I don't myself but it is true, we take in more useless information that we should. Who cares about the celebrities they are overpayed people who don't do much other than spend too much money and adopt children from third world countries. (Angelina Jolie)

I also agree with the authors responce to data and how it is organized and portrayed. With whatever data comes our way we intrepret it to be what we what it to be. The data is organized and put through a process only to show us what we are trying to see, not always what is actually there. I think that people need to see data as it is, without trying to find a deeper meaning in it.

Finally, the point that I couldn't agree with more is the author's statement on how we gain knowledge. We don't gain it through books or literature but we learn through experience. You must build your knowledge yourself and understand it in a way you see fit. We can be ambushed with books and journals and all sorts of things but without experience and the willingness to open your mind and take in the info you gain nothing.


I think this article was well written, I know it made me step back and say wow most of these things he is saying are true, and I think we all need to do that.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Potential Blog Ideas

1. Education--its problems and benefits and what can be done to fix the problems

2. Animal Cruelty/Rights/or just to talk about animals and how cool they are

3. TV Reviews--specific shows such as one tree hill and breaking bad

4. Music-- I'm always interested in finding new music

5. Football-- I'll watch football anytime especially if it's the Giants!!

Stefanic Response

When I first opened the article it was all out of order and it took me a little while to figure out what the correct order should be. While reading the article I came across a part that I found quite humorous. When Stefanac gives the terms that critics call bloggers and their work (dilettantes, amateurs, and cults) I found it funny that she could back it up with her infatuation for the English language by twisting their meanings into something good and positive. Right from there you can tell that Stefanac has a great passion for blogging and wants others to know about it. I also thought that the beginning of the article jumps right into helpful points on how to blog. The excerpts are quick and to the point which is good for the reader I feel.

When I got to the tip about not getting frustrated and sticking to it I got nervous. I am a very impatient person and I get bored easily. Blogging I think is a great idea but I have my worries about me staying interested in my topic and being able to talk about it for a certain amount of time. Then when Mr. Jalopy is introduced they describe his page as being clean, crisp, and full of graphics, this overwhelms me a little but because I don't think that I have the computer knowledge do that. I am a perfectionist and pay way to much attention to detail, this in a way is good but also very unfortunate, when I write I have so many thoughts going through my head that I forget what I'm writing and have to go back. It's kind of like my brain moves faster than I can type and talk...and I can do both pretty fast.

I really like the idea of enthusiast blogs. I think it's a great way for people to share their passion for something with someone else. And it's even better if there are other people interested in the same things. The blog on mother tongue annoyances I thought was really interesting and I feel that I could join that blog because there are definitely words that people say that annoy me.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Rebecca Blood's Response

When I first started reading this blog I was lost and confused on what I was actually reading. After continuing on I realized that I know less about blogs than I had originally thought. I thought that you had to be a computer whiz to know how to set up a blog and maintain it, but now with developing times literally anyone can set one up. I did not know that there were thousands of places that I could go and talk about basically anything; or that there were millions of people that have a common interest in one topic. The way I look at it is that blogging connects everyone in one way or another. After reading the article as a whole I get the main picture that she is attempting to explain blogging, but I still find what she is trying to say a little confusing. I am not a computer person and I would rather spend my time away from a computer, which is why I probably find her wording and explanation quite mind boggling. However the concept of blogging is quite interesting to me. The idea that at this moment in time there are hundreds maybe thousands of people commenting on one topic is amazing to me, I think that blogging is good because it connects people who share a common interest.

I have never created, seen, or created a blog but I know people who have and they seem very interested in it. I would like to learn more about the world of blogging so that I can maybe try it out and see if I personally enjoy it.