Mother Found Son Through a Tip on her MySpace Page!

Whoa I don't know if anyone read about this over break but I thought this story was amazing! Back in August, a woman by the name of Tiffany Rubin was sent into a panic when she found her son had been abducted. It wasn't until last week when a tip on her Myspace page led Tiffany to where her son was being held captive. Apparently, her ex-boyfriend is the culprit who abducted him AND to make matters worse he took him all the way to South Korea! Not only was I surprised to hear Tiffany got her son back, but the fact she found where he was through a message sent to her via Myspace made it even more astounding. A man who knew her ex-boyfriend saw the two walking around outside one day, and sent Tiffany Rubin a message telling her where her son was and what school he attended at the time. She flew over to South Korea with hopes of taking her son out of his school and getting him over to the American embassy. (and she did just that!) If this story doesn't demonstrate the importance of social networking then I don't know what does! If she didn't have a Myspace or Facebook profile it would have been ten times harder to reach Tiffany Rubin-- 15 hours away in New York city. But with the powers of social networking, all the good citizen had to do was search for her on Myspace and send her a message in a matter of seconds! What an amazing story and I am happy to hear Rubin has been reunited with her son!

Where I read the article: Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Mar28/0,4670,AbductedChildMySpace,00.html

Where You can watch this news story:
http://videos.kansascity.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1795704

Mental Overload Afflicts Us All!

The other day in class...which seems like forever ago by the way!...I really enjoyed the tiny breaks of relaxation and reflection throughout class. I think it is important to give the old brain a rest when working for long periods of time. Although at the time, the work I was doing wasn't too entirely strenuous, when writing massive papers or studying for a huge exam the tiny breaks can really come in handy. I remember once last year I was writing a mid term paper (that was due the next day of course) and I was at my laptop completely in the zone. The next thing I knew, one of my roommates walked in and said to me, " Whoa Kate, what's wrong? You look like you're about to lose it!" I looked up from my computer screen in awe. It just hit me that I was completely in overdrive and my brain was probably about to overheat (with out even realizing it!). So, I am all in favor in taking breaks during an intense study session or essay marathon. Sometimes I like to walk around a bit or have something to eat, it really makes a difference!

To Persuade or Not Persuade?

Right now I am writing an essay for my capstone, which conveniently has to deal with Rhetoric as well. I'm reading about women activists who wrote autobiographies back in the early 20th century when women had very few rights. The author of the book, Martha Watson, says that many of these women had to present themselves in a way that would persuade the general public into agreeing with their protests (by means of rhetoric!). One woman activist, Frances Willard, claimed that her activism was an act of God in order to receive any respect from the public. She also made her autobiography look "feminized" in order to convince people that her progressive beliefs did not turn her "manly".
Martha Watson says by using these tools in Willard's biography, " she becomes a progressive woman, a persona that acknowledges her accomplishments but implicitly proves that she is essentially feminine" ( Watson 57). It seems all of the women addressed in Watson's book had to find a middle ground in order to form a following. Many of the women also compromised a lot of their beliefs just so they wouldn't be chastised throughout society. Just to be heard, theses women constantly had to prove they were still "womanly" by sticking to many traditional female roles. By writing about themselves in a way that justified their actions and beliefs, they were able to persuade the public into believing they were doing something honorable (for the greater good of the female gender). This strategy kind of reminded me of the topic we discussed in class about people manipulating their Myspace and/or Facebook profiles inorder to give off a certain persona of themselves. Of course a facebook profile isn't as profound as writing an autobiography for the sake of all oppressed women, but I find the rhetoric connection between the two pretty interesting. I believe it was important for the women activists to somewhat compromise their "true" beliefs in order to help form a following of supporters. If they wrote something too radical, no one would have read their books! However, I do wonder about how such a compromise in today's society can really backfire on a person's self . Ok, don't judge me for using her as an example but look at Britney Spears. She worked so hard for so long in order to appeal to the public by coming off as essentially "perfect". Perfect body, perfect clothes, perfect dancing, smile, laugh,..etc. and it made her a lot of money and a ton of success with the price of her sanity! I know this is an extreme example, but it just goes to show no matter how perfect you look in that sparkly jump suit, or how perfect those tantalizing dance moves are pulled off, if you persuade the public into thinking you're someone entirely different from who you are....things could go wrong. You could end up completely lost...or even worse...BALD and in rehab. Ahhhh persuasion...WOW can't it be quite powerful?! I believe it is, and it's something to use with careful hands! Well, I guess Mr.Rodgers does make a good point, sometimes it IS better to just be yourself (or at least know who you are before messing with your persona).

Now What?!

Ok, so I know I told the class about what my final project will be about literally thirty minutes ago....buuuuut....I just had an epiphany. Well, I was looking at websites that promote using Web 2.0 in undeveloped areas of the globe. Everything was going smoothly, until I stumbled upon reading about poor areas in Asia. I was really interested in reading about this region because two days ago I was accepted into a teaching English in South Korea program (which I'm really excited about). Now, this is going to sound kind of self consumed of me, but after reading this website I started thinking about the process I went through to get the teaching position, and what the heck I would have done with my life had I not gotten into the program (because I really didn't have a back up plan). Anywho, it then occurred to me how many seniors I have talked to who are about to graduate and have no idea what they want to do with their lives. This is a common interest I share with them, because I have no idea what I will be doing even 2 years from now. Then I had realized how many options there are out there for students who want to go out and do something a little more unconventional other than going to grad school or law school..etc. and how there are so many students who don't know about them. I mean it's not the end of the world if you are 21/22 and have no idea what you want to do with your life, but yet so many students feel like they HAVE to go and get an office job or what ever.

Now, I feel kind of bad leaving the undeveloped parts of the world in the dust but after I realized I had been thinking more about life after college rather than my final project, I decided it may be a good idea to switch the issue of my project. Therefore, after a few minutes of deliberation, I decided I'm going to make a blog called "Now What?!" (or something to that effect still not sure). It will be aimed towards college students who don't know what they want to do after graduation, but know they want to do something different! I will post information about the peace corp, teaching abroad, and volunteering abroad as well. I will make this a blog so I can receive input from other college students about what they may want to do after graduation and I hope to receive input from people who have participated in organizations like the peace corp. So, I am really excited about this topic, and again I feel bad for abandoning my other issue but I just feel a little more passionate about this topic ....which also makes me feel like a bad person :( . But hopefully it will all work out!

Convergence Culture

Courtney's presentation last Tuesday was really interesting. I had to look at the Time Warner Corporation and I was blown away with everything they actually own. Granted, I realized they were a pretty big deal to begin with, but still the list of ownership they had went on for miles. They own AIM, Map Quest, and all of the CNN stations....who knew?! (Not me!) I also mealed around the rest of the website a little bit more to see what other big name companies own. It was interesting to see that the New York Times own part of the Boston Red Sox, and apparently CBS own MTV books. All together, Courtney's presentation really brought to my attention how big corporations pretty much monopolize different aspects of our media, and daily life. I googled Henry Jenkin's and he described his book as being, "An exploration of how the knowledge culture of fandom is transformed through the use of networked communications and how the new media alter reader's relations to texts, to media producers, and to each other. I trace various ways that the media industries are responding to the challenges of a more participatory culture". (http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.html).
I think that quote perfectly sums up the significance these corporations play with how we receive information, along with how important it is for them to keep up with new technologies. It makes me wonder about how easily they can manipulate the information they regurgitate to the public, and if they manipulate at all. It's almost scary to think about. Hopefully they are using their power in the media world for good. But who really knows???

Wow I have senioritis...and it's bad!

I just haaaaad to blog about this (Donna I told you it was coming! haha). Ok, I'm just going to come out and say that I have senoiritis and it is FULL BLOWN!! I just wrote a post on my blog about the Vision of Student's Today video, and here is a vision of how worthless of a student I have been this semester (if anyone cares to know). It literally took me FOREVER to write that previous post. I stopped to facebook twice while I was writing it....yea twice, annnnd I downloaded 3 songs. The really sad part is, this is one of my most interesting classes and it's hard for me to concentrate on it. Just imagine how bad I'm with my boring classes...stat is a nightmare and it's the stat class for the kids who are horrible with math (the lowest one that you can take). I just can not be bothered to do the weekly non-graded homework assignments it requires us to do. I guess the whole point of this post can be an example of using a blog as an emotional outlet, but really I just wanted to write about my troubles. Well, I'm going to try and get some more work done....it should only take me 9 hours or so!

"A Vision of Student's Today".....so true......

I found the video "A Vision of Student's Today" strikingly similar to my own college experience. Now that I am a senior, my classes are quite small and all of my professors know me. However, my first two years of college were quite different! I had a hard time with my lectures being so big, and it really effected how much I participated. When there are about 200 plus people crammed in an auditorium, and all the professor does is drill through a power point presentation it's almost impossible to stay engaged! I remember in some of my lectures, blatantly filling out cross word puzzles or watching the guy in front of me facebook...and that's when I actually went to class. I think when there are that many students in one lecture, it's important to incorporate new teaching strategies in order to keep the students engaged. I believe web 2.0 can really help with that problem..... I also think that it can help with the cost of books, which can be pretty ridiculous. My stat book was about 80 bucks, and it is not necessary to have at all. Recently, a lot of my professors haven't required us to buy books, but rather they put the documents on a blog or on Eres, which is awesome! I can only hope that trend becomes more popular. Overall, I found the video as a true testament to my first years of college! (which probably is not a good thing :/ ).

Blog Analysis :)

Ok, so I'm a little late on this post but better late than never! I FINALLY took the time to analyze a blog, however I decided to analyze a blog run by a company and a personal blog. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two kinds, and it gave me an opportunity to venture the world of blogs more vastly.

First, I started to look for a blog ran by a company and it was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. I'd start out by googling broad topics I was interested in, like travel, food, literature, photography, and music. I decided to go with the topic "FOOD"--because lets be honest it's something mostly everyone is interested in! I came across a website called Eden Foods--an organic foods site. It had a blog consisting of articles about our health and the environment, food recipes, and home beauty. It also had a section of pod casts that featured organic cooking shows.

http://www.edenfoods.com/articles/

Analysis:

1.) Grammar: The grammar making up the articles was clear and concise. Most of the posts are composed of only text, there are very few images or visuals. The vocabulary it uses is pretty extensive, which makes sense considering the audience it aims to probably consists of educated adults. And when it comes to the recipes it advertises, the grammar is straightforward and to the point.

2.) Logic: I think the posts serve to both inform and persuade the general public. It seems obvious that the articles the site promotes are aimed to inform the public about their personal health and organic foods, while also trying to get them to eat organically. The section about health and the environment really tries to persuade the reader to think about different issues (IE what eating glutton does to the body or how eating grain can benefit the body).

3.) Rhetoric: I think the main aim for this site is to promote personal health and the environment. It has articles used to inform the reader about how what you eat can both effect your health and the earth around you.

---Then, I looked around for a more personal blog. I stumbled upon a blog page made up of cool images called digital photographs. I'm always interested in incorporating images in my own blog, so when I saw this one I can understand why it captured my attention right away.

Overall, it was more personal than the blog I analyzed before. It was made up of images captured from someones own digital camera in their hometown, so it makes sense it exudes more of a personal feeling.

*One of the pictures featured on the blog.

http://digitalpolaroids.blogspot.com/

Analysis:

1.) Grammar: There really wasn't a lot of text that made up the blog (surprise, surprise) considering it was made up of photos. It did offer some captions underneath the photos as means of background information, but that's about it.

2.) Logic: Again, there is any bias or use of argumentation embedded with in the blog. I think it's aim is more along the lines of exposing really interesting personal photos of everyday objects shot beautifully.

3.) Rhetoric: I believe the message this blog sends is to indulge into the colorful and artistically shot photographs from Argentina. Personally, I view it as means of escape into an exotic world.

To Wiki or not to Wiki?

Personally, I find wiki pages to be interesting to look at, and I can't tell you the countless hours I've spent on Wikipedia. So, I found our navigation around the Wiki world last Thursday pretty interesting. I am however, going to steer clear of attempting to change wikipedia pages because apparently the Wikipedia gods frown upon that. I believe it took a solid 5 seconds for someone to edit the profound on-liner I wrote on the gold fish page. I guess they didn't approve of my advice to NOT buy your own gold fish from Wal-Mart...and why they disapproved it is still a mystery to me, I find it to be useful information! (but that's just me). Although, I did get the chance to write some fun little facts about my high school on it's wikipedia page (without it getting erased two seconds later) so that was pretty neat. All, in all I find wikipedia to be a great quick reference to see what year the Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. or what beta fish like to eat at night. But as far as trying to create or edit a wikipedia page, well I'll leave that up to the Wiki Fanatics.



When we were asked to find a non-wikipedia wiki, I enjoyed looking around for that right wiki to post on our class blog. And wow, there is a wiki for EVERYTHING! Besides my avid use of wikipedia, I consider myself relatively new to the wiki world. So, I was astounded to stumble upon an abyss of wikis when I just typed it into the google search engine. I was very pleased to find a Wiki on Sawyer from LOST. (here's the link if your curioushttp://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Sawyer). Not only because I would claim myself to be an enthusiastic fan of the man, but I was also pleased to notice how extensive his wiki really was. They had every fact about the character down so pat, that it almost appeared as if he were a non-fictional person. I really did enjoy looking through the world of wiki's, but again probably would be hesitant about editing one. Just from looking at a handful of them it looks like the people behind their Wiki pages have a pretty tight grip on them, and keep tabs on them at all hours. So, I'll just do my part of admiring their wiki's and countless information they post about Sawyer.

Our Own Blogging Heroes

After analyzing every one's blogs it's interesting to see what I can do to mine for means of improvement. Looking at my own blog, I have noticed the avid use of images and photos in order to reinforce a theme or point. However, after taking the time to nominate our own class blogging Heroes, I really got some good ideas to incorporate in my own blog. The use of bright colors, videos, and outside sources seen on other peoples blogs have inspired me to expand my own blogs. Recently, I feel my blog has plateaued and lacks a certain "I don't know what".... so it's time to bring in some reinforcements. This only illustrates the importance behind maintaining ones blog; it constantly needs upkeep or else it just gets boring! So, I'm glad we took the time to not only recognize our own blog heroes but also to use them as means of personal inspiration.

Say Whaaaa?

After I read Cory Doctorow's article I googled the title My Blog, My Outboard Brain and I came across a blog called The Outboard Brain of a Geek. One of the blogs posted featured this wonderful t-shirt. I'm not sure if it is supposed to advertise the fact blogs constantly need to be updated with new info, or the importance of feedback and getting a blog's presence known to others. Either way I thought the shirt was amusing!

WELCOME TO THE AGE OF INFORMATION CONSTIPATION!

I really enjoyed Cory Doctorow's article My Blog, My Outward Brain. I totally agree that there is way too much information out there for anyone to ever keep up with. I know personally the amount I have to read for school alone tends to swim around my memory bank for a couple of days, hours, or minutes and then dissolve into a great dark abyss in the corner of my brain only to shrivel up and die. Ok...maybe that is a little dramatic but it is true none the less! Therefore, I do agree that blogging can help not only help me keep track of what I read but the act of writing about a particular text "fixes" it in my mind. I can't say I'm to the point where if I were unable to blog it would be "akin to suffering extensive brain damage" however, out of the gazillions things that I read or hear each day, it's easy to forget a lot of it. So, if anything the act of blogging makes me realize what "nuggets" of information I should take note of, out of the loads of information constipation trapped in my brain!

School 2.0 is......?

After reading Will Richardson's Connectivism and Read/Write Web I was a little baffled about what he was trying to get at. Obviously he addresses the use of wiki and blogs within school districts. However, it is when he starts to question the definition of School 2.0 in the third paragraph where I lose track. He rattles of definitions of what School 2.0 could be...
using tools in order for students to publish what they know to large audiences, or, better student/teacher communication with parents using social technologies. But he follows both of these definitions questioning their validity. He believes that "folks" have to learn how to understand the uses of these tools, but never really defines what IT is that people need to understand about school 2.0. And maybe that's the point he's trying to make; School 2.0 still is not clearly defined, and there is not a definitive way to use it in the classroom....who knows! He does pose some insightful questions that educational bloggers should think about .Especially,
"can they (students) connect with the audience not simply in the ways books connect to readers but in ways that allow them to engage and explore more deeply with an ongoing, growing community of learners?"
And I believe that is a question worth finding an answer to. Maybe its answer will better inform educational bloggers about what the effects of School 2.0 are, and give way to a clear definition of the phrase. However, though Richardson presents important questions worth pondering, I can't say his article was very persuasive. It only left me with a bunch of questions left unanswered......was this his aim?!

Blogging Brilliantly!

After reading Blogging Heroes I was really taken a back by the way Chris Anderson utilized his blog. Not only did Anderson use the feedback he recieved as a tool to steer his book into the right direction, he also used it by means of publicity--creating a buzz around his new book before it even hit shelves. And all of this was done for free! If you ask me I'd say he's brilliant!...or atleast the idea was. It sounds like these days if an author wants to write a book, short story, heck even an essay, it would be silly not to put it on a blog! The feedback alone is a reward in it's self; Authors have the freedom to write about whatever they want with out the constraints of editors or the pressure of pleasing the general public. Therefore, the feedback generated from genuine/passionate writing can not only help pin point ideas, but can also give the writer inspiration towards new thoughts. It's like having your own personal Muse-FO' FREE! These new inspirations from fellow bloggers, like for example the title of Anderson's book, can really effect how it is received when it hits the market. (hopefully in a good way!) And if Chris Anderson never used a blog as a platform for his book, who knows how differently it would have been received in public--or how much money it wouldwouldn't have ended up making. It seems that using a blog in order to get your work noticed, or even looked at, is a brilliant idea. "People now want to spread their presence around the world", and I believe blogging is one of the most effective ways of doing so.