Today

Tomorrow is the company Charlie works for 80th Anniversary. Tonight we are going to try and find some fancy clothes to wear. Hopefully I can find a dress I'm comfortable in. Its so hard these days plus its not winter anymore and the outfits just get skimpier and skimpier. Something with straps would be nice. I'd never go strapless not even for a wedding dress. There just has to be something over my shoulders or at least something that's covering that little fold of skin between my arm and chest, right where my armpit is. You know the spot. Even with little strappy things you see that fold and I hate it. I see famous people with it so I should be better about having but even on them I think its gross. LOL And there's no real way to get rid of it unless you want to buff out your arms. No thanks.

Anyway, I'm going to buy Charlie's outfit since he's paid for a bunch of new things for me. For example a purse and shoes etc. Its time I buy him something to wear. :) I dont mind anyway because I love shopping for guys' clothes. Often I find the men's stuff better than the women's. Once again its all too skimpy and trashy these days.

Testing

Blah blah blah BLAH! :D

Nacho Libre

So I went to see Nacho Libre this weekend. First of all I did not want to see this movie at all!! During work I had read some reviews of the movie and they said it wasnt very good, not very funny, and too long. Those reviewers were wrong. I loved the movie and had a great time seeing it. I saw it with my boyfriend Charlie, who really wanted to see it. Since last weekend was "his" weekend (he didnt have me dragging him to places I wanted to go) I broke my vow of never ever seeing that movie ( I said I'd rather gauge my eyes out) and we went and saw it. Of course I knew that since I hadnt wanted to see it I was going to love it. It always goes this way. Anway I recommend it and will probably buy it on DVD. Yes it was that good. :D

Most Recent Happenings

So I am 99.9% of the way to being a full University of Washington graduate. That last 1% will come after I complete Summer quarter which will consist of French 103 (yay the last one) during A term and Mass Media Law (yay the last COM class) during B term. Thank god they arent overlapping even though it will take longer to finish. This last quarter was killer. Doing work and and 3 classes was SOO much. Now I know why I only ever took 2 classes at a time. It may have taken me longer but at least my mind wasnt a complete blur likes its been for the past 2 and a half months. It feels good though, and I've done well in my classes so far. The last class I'm waiting for is my media structure class. That was a doozy but I think I did above a 3.0, hopefully. LOL

You know what interesting, the classes that you hate because you have to do a bunch of work in always end up being the most rewarding. Its lame at the time but after its over your like , "hey that was fun and interesting, why cant more classes be like that." Those hard ones always get you in the end. :D

Last Blog Response (for now...)

I really enjoyed this class because there were a lot of elements to it. It wasnt just straight forward lecturing and notetaking. Often there arent enough assignments in a class that help you as well as the teacher gage what you're learning or have learned. I know I'll leave this class knowing more than when I started. One of the most important things I learned was what the Internet really is. Before I just took all the little things it did for granted, now I dont. While I dont have quite the grasp that a Bill Gates would have, there's some basic understandings that allow me to look at the Interent, my computer and even other digital technologies in a new light. Concepts such as protocal, intranet vs. internet, RSS feeds, VoIP, websites, blogs, addresses, etc. are now taken for more than face value because I've read and studied them. Its technology that has a history and an ever growing future. Its exciting stuff!

I would liked to have studied and looked at a little bit more the area of artificial intelligence. This is a fascinating concept to me because even in my own little world my computer is becoming more and more important. Its interesting to imagine just how much more advanced it will become in the future and how this will affect my life.

The topic that was the least interesting to me was developing countries and technology. I just go too riled up when I think about this which is sad but true. I've studied it in other classes and I get frustrated that the only idea to help these countires is technology so they can bypass 100s of years of evolution, its just not that simple in my mind. Its also frustrating when I know that in order for core countries to function the way they function they need developing countries to be the way they are. All it really comes down to is money and big business. See I'm ranting now. Anyway, I know you cant have a new media class without talking about developing countries, you should because a lot of people dont even realize its a problem that desperatly needs a solution (my solution would be to strengthen infrastructures and education, while slowly introducing some technology like telephones). My mind just tends to shut down when the topic comes up, so its not so much an un-interesting topic as it is a hard one for me to diplomaticly discuss. I also dont have all the facts which make it hard to know exactly what is going on. I can't make assumptions based solely on what I've read and heard. Visiting a developing country and talking to its citizens would be the best way to know what truly would help them.

And so thats my last blog. I'm sad which makes me think that I'll keep blogging. I've come too far to just let it disappear into the net.

Thank you!

Wk 9 Response Emerging Technologies

The article about VoIP was pretty cool to read. I enjoyed how the author, Robert Valdes, compared the standard phone and the VoIP system because it helped me understand how the new technology works. VoIP sounds like a really awesome technology because it uses less space which allows for more calls plus the idea that it could be a lot cheaper. The only problem I see which is one of the same ones that Valdes brought up, is that doing things through the Internet sometimes needs one to be more or less ready for lag, disconnections, "page not found" screens and all sorts of stuff. You cant really rely 100% on the connection. I dont see people conducting business through VoIP because of the lack of trust unless, again, you are 100% sure that you're connection wont be broken.

It reminds me of when I used Ventrilo for speaking to other players in the game I played. Its a really great way to talk to people without having to call them or do some lame 3-way, but it was only as good as the connection each of us had. In this sense its more for fun than for getting vital information or conducting business. It would be pretty cool though with the soft phone technology if from any location you could use your Internet connection to talk someone.

I like the idea of VoIP a lot but as far as the impact it will have on cable and telephone connections I dont think it will be a huge one considering the fact that you cant trust the Internet 100% where as with regular connections you can. We know that our telephones are going to work maybe not 100% of the time but 99.9%. The Interent in my opinion is about a 75% or maybe less if you are me. :( Anyway, only a small minority are going to fully integrate VoIP into their lives (technologically savvy people with money to spend on high quality products) which might cause a tiny impact on cable and telephone but thats not enough to change the way we as a whole place our phone calls.

Discussion ?'s

1. What is one way that you have used VoIP? Explain what it was and what you thought of it.

2. What are some ways inwhich you think VoIP might get tainted? For example if people require a cost to use..this may keep people from using it.

3. Would VoIP be something developing countries could us as a way to save money? Or is it another technology that will enlarge the digital divide?

Wk 8 Response

The article this week had a lot of information that I did not understand because I'm not too technically savvy but what I did understand is that this was a very pro-technology paper with a strong enphasis and bringing technology to developing countries at a low-as-possible-price. One point of interest that stuck with me was: "Policy-makers must view rural and universal access as drivers of development and not sources of government revenue." I thought this was a really good point for the author to make because the only way I see technology working in developing countries is for it not to be regulated like other technologies. Because WLANs can overlap etc. they create greater opportunities for everyone to have access to ICTs. More often than not, in developing countries, their governments have access while the majority of the people do not. It works in a sort of hiearchy. The people at the bottom just dont have a chance but with WLANs they could. But politics are different in these countries and idea of something being put in place that did not allow for government revenue or restrictions may not have a chance.

But in my opinion this a very techno-optomistic view, I just cant help feel that having internet access is not what is going to help developing countries. There's so many people out there that just need something to eat and clean water let alone a computer. Arg, there's just so many reasons why this is not what we should be focusing on. But if we must bring them technology as a means to gaining ahead than I believe the article has the correct way of doing. Having mutliple Internet outlets will also drive down the prices of businesses offering Internet access.

Discussion ?'s

1. Is technology what developing countries need in order to rise about "developing status"? Why or why not?

2. After reading this article, did any other ideas come to you that may have been different than the authors?

3. Will it lessen the "Digital Divide"? Why or why not?

Cantwell/McGavik Exercise

My first impressions of each website were:

Cantwell: simple, soft, plain, not a whole lot going on, to the point, links were easy to find

McGavik: complicated, loud, colorful, a whole lot going on, many different links to look at, hard to find the main links like home etc.

Cantwell had a lot of opportunities for voters to put in their information and sign up for notices, volunteering, doing petitions, and getting updates.

McGavik had these too but they were harder to find. Unless I clicked on "Meet Mike" I wouldnt have known they were there. (This was my first impression. After I clicked the back button, I then noticed that he had donate and volunteer links but because there was so much going on I didnt see them at first. It was like his picture hid them.) McGavik did have a blog though where Cantwell did not. My impression was that Cantwell allowed people to sign up for a lot of things, this leads to waiting for responses where as McGavik's website with the blog feature allowed people to get a more instantaneous response.

One thing that bothered me about Cantwell's website (when looking for issues) was that I couldnt find any thing about issues until I clicked on "About Maria". It was obvious that she is pro-environment but I only knew this from having prior knowledge and then seeing her conservation act link plus pictures of the outdoors. McGavik on the other hand had an "Issues" link that took you to other links which explained in little bits his stance on issues like the environment which its obvious that he is pro-human. This was easier to read because they were small bits unlike Cantwell's explanations that was very long and not too stylistic. Althought her explanations are more thorough.

Even though McGavik's explanations were easy to read, I still dont agree with them. ;)

In regards to which canidate I trust, I'd have to say Cantwell becaue I believe in some of the same values as she does especially ANWR. Their websites didnt really have an affect on this because I had prior knowledge.