April 14, 2008
Presentations
I am really enjoying the presentations thus far, it seems everyone was able to come up with a topic that really related to something that is interesting to them, I know I did. This has made the presentations very interesting, because it is obvious that the presenter cares about their topic. On that note, however, I can't believe that our time as a class has wound down so quickly! It seems like just the other day that we got the syllabus and Paper 4 seemed so far away, and now it's just about all over. Freshman year sure did fly by, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I welcome the break during summer, but it just means that I'm one-quarter away towards real life, and I am certainly not ready for that. It seems like I'm gonna need at least another ten before I leave school and become an old person (no offense Laura!). Well, seeing as this will be the last blog post I ever write, I hope everyone has a great summer and is successful in whatever life brings you!
Posted by btrues at 10:38 PM | Comments (1)
April 08, 2008
Paper 4
I can't believe the year has wound down so quickly and that i'm practically almost a sophomore in college at this point. It's scary to think that in just a few short years i'm actually going to go into the real world doing real things.
My paper 4 is coming along very smoothly. It is actually almost done. (I don't know how, i'm never on the ball with these sorts of things) but I am very happy with this, as it is giving me a lot of time to go over and make sure it is done well. The research process went very smoothly for me, I think my topic was just narrow enough, because i was able to find just the number of articles i needed, granted with some difficulty, but that means that there hasn't been too much research done on my topic which i s what i'm going for.
It's good to feel that my presentation is out of the way, and went fairly smoothly. I wish I could have focused more on my proposal at the end, but I was really feeling pressed for time at that point, as the five minutes snuck up on me so quickly. With my presentation being done and paper four being basically finished, I can't believe that i'm more or less done with English 125! I hope everyone had a good year!
-Billy
Posted by btrues at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)
March 31, 2008
Momma Mia!
All this talk that we have been doing about the digital divide has really been quite relevant to my life right now. My mother recently made the switch from PC to Mac (with a little persuasion from me), and the phone calls have been nonstop. The transition for me was relatively easy, though I am still finding a couple neat new tricks I can do with mine, but she is not having quite the same experience. Her being the "technology immigrant" while I am a "technology native" really has made a huge difference. She is having tons of trouble just handling the basics of her new operating system and computer. I feel like she would like it more if I could show her all her computer was capable of, but i'm afraid it would blow her mind trying to learn everything too fast. As a "technology native" myself, it's very difficult for me to imagine why she is having so much trouble with the change. When I first got my Mac, I explored the computer, pressing different buttons and seeing what I could do with everything, so I could more effectively use it. Even when I needed to do something that I wasn't quite sure how to do, I just followed what seemed like the logical order of things to do, and I was able to figure it out fairly quickly. My mom doesn't seem to have this intuitive sense that I do, which is interesting, because we've both been using computers and technology for the same amount of time. The closest thing I can relate this to is how people say that it is easier to learn a new language when young, than when you are older. It's interesting how things work out that way. Any other takes on why this might be are welcome. I'll accept any advice that might help me figure out why my mom is so hopeless, haha.
Posted by btrues at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Global Communication
Networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace have really revolutionized how the youth of today interact and communicate. I can't even remember what I did with my time when I couldn't see what all 400 of my closest friends were doing every minute. When put this way, it does seem like Facebook is an insane concept, everyone putting there whole life out on the internet in order to see the life of everyone else. This sort of networking really does have many advantages though, first of their is the entertainment of it, as noted by the fact that I am on my facebook 24 hours a day. It allows for the easy sharing of pictures, the daily posting of notes to keep people up to date on life, and all sorts of things that i'm not gonna tell you about because i'm sure you guys already know. I just find the whole thing incredible on a macro scale though. Now that everyone in our generation is connected with everyone else, the possibilities seem limitless. People from every corner of the globe joining together in a group for a common cause is very incredible. People are creating new holidays at random. There seems to be a new hug an (insert personal characteristic here) day every week. It's just incredible what we can do with it, and it seems like new uses for this global connection are coming out every day. It will be interesting to see what the nature of Facebook is 20 years from now
Posted by btrues at 08:48 PM | Comments (1)
