Blogging about Blogging

First things first...IM ALIVE!!!!!!! I know you all were worried sick about me :). I have a terrible case of strep throat and could not come in contact with too many people. I was actually removed from the University twice..true story! Anyway Blogging....

The readings for today were pretty good. I would sum them up as Blogging for Dummies, which Im sure already exists! Each started out with a "what is" explanation which i didn't think was needed. We all know what blogging is even if we don't recognize it as blogging. Facebook has this application called notes where you can jot down thoughts and tag friends to them. Is that not a blog? They have mant different functions and purposes. Its amazing how they are used around the world for some many different reasons. I can't help but to think of blogs as emails for the world to see. I say this because of the intimacy of blogging. Most read like a private letter from one person to the next and at times I feel that way. Like when I am reading celebrity gossip blogs, which isn't very often ;), i feel like the blogger is letting me in on a secret personally. I also say they are like emails because of the style of writing. Like one reading said bloggers have their own language that they use. I actually have to re-read some of my school work from time to time just to make sure that it doesn't have any "web slang" in it. But thats what I like about blogging. I can say whatever I want, however I want without any one coming through with a red pen! Blogging should be natural not focused. You should blog when you have something to say not to keep with the blogs around you. I feel that some blogs are like that. For example I do not need minute by minute blog updates that Britney is crazy...we kno!!! Not to put rules on how or what people blog but you probably don't need on if you don't have a purpose. That is probably why so many blogs are idle. Everyone feels that they need one but then they abandon them. I don't know just a thought. I will end with the quote from Chris Anderson..."Blogging is a way to make myself smarter". Maybe I should try that!

Book Report Reaction

The book I read for my book report was called Six Degrees: The Science of the Connected World. In this book he talks about a new science. A science that combines all the knowledge of the preexisting sciences out there. I clearly had to read this book every carefully because was all very new to me. I actually didn't pick this book for myself it was more or less my pick by default. When I first saw the title I thought it was about the whole Kevin Bacon game thing. And he does mention this game in the book but its a little different. As I mentioned in my presentation I think this new science would be useful and applied to everyday situations. For example the story he gives about the people guessing the passwords after the 9/11 attacks based on the wisdom of crowds. Also the mixing of sociology and math, which is the basis for the Kevin Bacon game. Its all new to me i can see it taking shape in the near future.

Connected World Cont...

I can't say whether I liked or disliked the reading Tuesday. This is all so new to me that I don't quite understand it enough to pass judgement. The quote I blogged about earlier this week stood out to me mainly because of the wording...."he (and we) is “Enveloped in the network, [where] I am continually being distracted. [Where] I can no longer concentrate on just one thing at a time.”(7). The idea of being enveloped in something is a powerful image. Shaviro suggested that we are just pons being controlled by our surroundings. He states that we have so much going on around use that we lose sight. Well at least thats how I took it. I guess my opinion is a little biased after reading Watts.

Living in a Connected World

After today's class my mind was filled with so many thoughts. I find myself saying this alot lately but this stuff is all new to me. Aaron's presentation on the connected world was very thought provoking. The author's arguement that[and i stole this from Aaron's blog]..." he (and we) is “Enveloped in the network, [where] I am continually being distracted. [Where] I can no longer concentrate on just one thing at a time.” (7)"looks towards the internet as an example of this. The fact that images and distractions are all around us causes us to be multitaskers and make connections to all the things around us. This can be seen not just in our use of technology but also in everyday life. The difference is that at least on the internet you can control the distractions. If one too many windows are open you can click the little "x" in the corner and be done with it Or better yet install I pop-up blocker. It isn't so easy in real life. There isn't a pop-up blocker to reduce distractions.

And to shift gears.....

Another interesting statement that got me to thinking was Ms. Donna's statement that the only info that is private now are dreams. Thats a pretty powerful statement. Its scary yet true. Everything about us can be accessed on the internet nowadays. Social networks make this easier than you might realize. Every networking site whether blogging or MySpace has an "about me section". With the rise of online banking and online everything else for that matter it is so easy to tap in others personal lives. It makes me wonder what people think of me or what information I am unconsciously making public through this blog?

Weekend Thoughts

First off let me say that I am having the worst Monday EVER!!!!!!!!!! I think I’m being punished for having such a wicked good weekend L….moving on
So I did a lot of thinking and discussion of concepts that we have learned in class. Somehow I found myself talking about the wisdom of crowds and wikis at a party Saturday. The weird part was that people were actually interested in the topic. I posed Nawal’s question of in what ways are our bodies an extension on to things around us. For the most part I got a lot of example using your hands and feet. I personally had a problem with this. I know that there are other examples, which got me to thinking. As I posted on Juanita’s page, I believe that our brains are an extension of eyes. Hence…”Seeing is believing” or our mouths are an extension of our hearts…”Say what you feel”. These are just a few examples.

A Change has Come

So I know I am a little late with the blog changes but I was actually happy with the way my blog looked. I LOVE PINK!!!! However, I noticed that my blog was the same as other people in the class and we can't have that so I changed a few things. I will probably add more elements as I begin to play around with it more. Maybe some images of cool sneakers, or jewels, or flowers. I don't know. I'm really not a girly girl. I have three brothers and a partner who hates girly girls so I can't be. I think I will use my blog as a way to unleash just a little bit of that side. I know this blog was random but I just wanted to share :)

Ear for an Eye...Won't Happen

I must say that the readings for today were quite interesting. As I was reading I was filled with so many thoughts. I read the handout first and I must say it took me a while to figure out what the heck these words meant. What I took way from this reading is that the way we communicate has evolved in a major way. Historically it has been what you hear is what you believe. There wasn't any tv's, radios, or other forms of media so there was no way to fact check your source. That has all changes with this new wave of visual communication. The reading states that rationality and visualization go hand in hand. I believe this as well. If I hear a rumor that some celeb has died or something to that effect I instantly go online to see if is true. It is only rational if I can visually see it. An ear for an eye won't cut it.

The second reading sparked the thought on my late night/early morning gulity pleasure of watching MSNBC "To Catch a Predator". These men go online in chat rooms to get young girls (and sometimes guys) to sleep with them. The spin is that the kids are actually undercover cops. When the guys arrive they are met by a host, tv crew, and of course the police. This idea of online personas is in full effect here. Anyone can make up a screen name and become who they want. As stated the web transcend all our limitations in nature of time and space for example. I can become who ever I want and go anywhere I wish. Pretty creepy if you think about it.

Not So Unique

So I would consider myself a pretty unique and unconventional person. So when we were asked to find websites that addressed some of the topics that we have been discussing in class I just knew that I would come across several interesting sites. However that hasn't been the case. Most are pretty redundant and others are underdeveloped. So when I came across the site claming to contain tips on having a richer web 2.0 user experience I thought "cool". Then it was down hill from there. My next site had already been saved by 486 people. Guess everyone's pretty clear on social bookmarking? The third site was added mainly for my own understanding. Even after reading the piece for class and Juanita's presentation I was still a little unclear on the wisdom of crowds. Mainly because I'm studying riots and collective behavior in another class and for some reason I am hellbent on trying to make a connection. So the site, which is actually a blog, has to be my personal fave. Hope everyone enjoys them and finds them useful.

Umm..Social Bookmarking

What I have come to notice as I read more and more about Web 2.0 is that there are a lot of fancy terms for the stuff we do everyday. When I think about tags the first thing that comes to mind is Facebook. I tag the pictures of my friends and I tag them in notes. I never really thought about using that technology outside of that realm. As far as social bookmarking I also do this everyday whether I intend to or not. From my understanding it is a way to connect the things you are interested in all together and also share them with others. I wonder if an example of social bookmarking would be when you find a interesting item online the site has a "share this item" button and you can email your friends the image. Or how about emailing youtube links to each other? Does that count?I personally never use my bookmark or "favorites" on my computer. I have two sites saved as "faves". One site is called drinkmixer and it has every drink recipe known to man and the second is the link to the class wiki because I can never remember how to get to it. So on one hand I can see how there is a need for these large bookmark sites. In most cases when you are surfing the web for information you only want what is relevant to the search and I guess social bookmarking helps to achieve that.