final review of class

I am writing my last review of class 3 days after it was due. That is pretty much how this class has gone for me. This also means that no one will read it (which is ok). This has been a rough class as far as dedicating enough time to get everything done in time. I did however learn a lot about tools and seeking tools in a way that makes them easier to find. Over all. good.

Mixing and Remixing

It is interesting how different a project can be in the end compared to the beginning vision. Our presentation has changed significantly over the course of the last week even. We have made many changes both sourced from us and the suggestions of others. The evolution has greatly improved how we are presenting the material.

Often times the end product is nothing like the initial idea. Evolution gives improved ideas and products.

How to add a chat feature in a blog.

First, go to a site like chatroll.com. They have created a chat feature that is easily embedded on any blog or site.

Second, register and create the chat box that you want.

Next, go to your blog, in our case blogger and and a widget or gadget. To get to this feature go to the design tab found in the dashboard. In the widget box select HTML/Javascript.

Finally, copy and paste the code from chatroll to your blog.

Enjoy

Final project and Khao san road

For our project we are working with a local group called Sister Survivors. They are building up a community of women who have or have had breast cancer. They currently have a blog that they have been updating daily since April of this year. They are working to create something that is usable and that people know about.

I feel like getting a name, site or product out there is always the hard part and I am not sure how to overcome that. I have been reminiscing about my travels lately and a place that I have been came to mind as an example of this. Khao san Road in Bangkok Thailand is somewhat of a mecca for backpackers. There is a video that illustrates what is is like to walk down that road. There are hundreds of people, signs are everywhere, music is blasting and lights are flashing. I feel like getting a business of anything seen in a place like this is like people being able to find a blog or website. It seems impossible, but I know its not.

How India changed my life.

I was blessed to be able to go on a field study my freshman year of college. I have always wanted to travel and this was my big chance. There was a semester of prep before we went filled with classes dedicated to helping us get an understanding of what the country was like before we went there. By the time we left I felt that I was ready for anything. my first challenge came right when I got off the plane. I told the man at customs that I was doing research; my visa was a tourist visa. There were problems. The big boss man came over a yelled at me and then took me into his office in order to continue the interrogation. After about 20min of deportation threats he let me through. What relief I felt until I had to go to the bathroom. It was my first experience with a squatter. What fun!

After all of that I headed out the doors to find the other students that were meeting me at the airport. I didn't see any of them. There were throngs and throngs of people and taxi drivers waiting and yelling. The residual heat from the day could be felt even at midnight. I looked around a bit and then camped out on my backpack and waited. It was then that I realized that I had given my pick up the wrong date and that they would be to the airport the next day to get me. I knew that I had to do something, so I went with a man to a hotel. He had a brochure so it had to be legitimate, right? The hotel was legit they gave me a ride there and back to the airport the next morning and breakfast. How nice. Yes it was, but I ended up paying 10 times what I should have for what I got. Live and learn. I made I through my first 24 hours in India. There would be many more lessons to come.

Here's a picture of some of us students at a wedding. I am the one in green.

How Highways Changed the World

That slab of concrete than most of us drive on several times a week is a part of an unprecedented network of highways that cover the US. This network began at virtually the same time that cars were becoming available for purchase. These roads allow us to be much more connected with the world but less connected with each other. We can scream down the highway at breakneck speeds to reach our destinations while stopping for gas at a station that used to be a mom and pop stop but is now a part of a national chain. Yes, we can get to where we want to go but we won't get to talk to anyone on the way.

The economy has mushroomed into a world powerhouse, in part because commerce can flow on the highway. There are many nations that are struggling with transport of people and goods because of the lack of pothole free roads.

It is virtually impossible for a country or region to grow or even function at any desirable level if there are poor roads or no highways.

I spent 4 months in India a few years back and the roads there are not that great at all. Road travel takes at least twice as long as it would in the US. While in India I took a trip to a city that was a 10 hour drive by bus. The drive was overnight with bathroom breaks taking place in alleys along the way. Sometimes the bumps were so big that we left our seats. At one point during the trip we drove by a man that had crashed his motorcycle. We did not stop nor did anyone else. I found out later that if people stop to help they are often blamed for the accident. In a way the poor quality of the roads can be blamed for this as well. If emergency workers could respond quicker via good roads there would be a lot fewer wrong conviction and more people would be willing to stop and help.

Poor roads in any country prevents much travel, business and access. As a countries roads develop their economy develops.

Me and my world

So, I have been craving the world outside of the US. I miss being in a society or community that is connected to the earth and each other. I cherish the time I have had in developing countries. It is a time when I feel alive and part of the earth, like I am really living. When I am in the US for long periods of time I feel like I get dulled to the joy and fullness of life. There is something to not being on the internet and computer all of the time and just sitting and chatting with people because you feel like it not because you have to do this and that and that and that. I thing the movie "The Gods must be crazy" captures a bit of this feeling. Enjoy the intro:)

Semester update

This semester has been a crazy one. I have been working hard to get things under control. I do enjoy the abundance of knowledge that I gain from this class.

1. historical content

This is definitely the area in which I am dedicating the least time. I do love learning about history however. I do like that the history has been broken up into bite size chunks. I enjoyed the book reading that we were asked to do. It gave me some focus and direction. I admit that I don't do very well in an unstructured class. I feel like the historical content area is the least structured and that is why I have the hardest time with it.

2. digital concepts

The area of computing and digital concepts is very engaging to me, probably because I have not had the privilege of taking a computer class prior to this. I have learned a lot and have enjoyed the skills and knowledge I have gained. I like doing the labs and figuring out new tools and software.

3. labs

I have done half of my labs and have learned about a lot more than just the things in those 3 labs. This portion of the class is very engaging and structured, which is why I do much better in this area. I defiantly seek out opportunities to learn, create and connect.

James Wilcox musses on...

I was asked to review the blog written by James Wilcox. I enjoyed much of what was said, he has clearly done a lot of research for his posts. James has a lot to say, sometimes it was too much to read about one subject. He is however, a good writer. The topics were covered very well. There were only a couple of posts on the tech side of things. Overall I give it an A.

Free or not.....

The idea of an economy that includes free information and products sounds good, because I benefit from it. I like the idea of free, software, books, and tools. At the same time I have a hard time wanting to send my photos and liturature out there for anyone to use for free. At the same time if I were to do that I would probably be more well known and have a few more opportunities. It is hard to change a way of thinking that has been ingrained. This new way to approach business seems to be better for both parties considering the immense amount of products out there. This new idea is changing the way the world interacts.

Me, Myself and Freud

First, what is up with all these famous people with only one name?

Second, Freud teaches that there are 3 sides to the human psyche. The id, ego and super-ego. Id is the impulsive child-like portion. Ego is the link or balance between the id and super-ego. The super-ego is the moralistic portion. All of these

parts work together to form you.

This is a concept that is new to me but at the same time I feel like I have known it all along. All of us, or most of us feel like there are different sides to us. Different situations call for different sides of us. This makes sense. But, I have spent a lot of my energies trying to merge all sides of myself into one whole self. I don't want to have any part of myself that I feel like I have to hide or repress. I am not sure that these are exactly the same thing, but I feel that they are at least correlated. Now that I better understand the psyches was all of that effort in vein?

The moth and the light

Last night I was taking a shower and looking through our little window in the bathroom when I noticed a moth. It continually tried to get in because of the light coming out of our window. This lead me to think about how much I seek light in my life. I wondered if I am like the moth in that I always go toward the light; not in a mindless way, but a deliberate one. How often do I pass up things of light to seek things of the world?

Gulliver's Travels project

The book that I read for class was Gulliver's Travels. I had never read it before and I did not know anything about the book before starting it. The book was a bit slow and not as engaging as I had anticipated. I was having a hard time getting through it when I found out that it was meant to be a political commentary. That made all the difference in the world. After that the book became much more interesting to read. The new depth drove me on much more than my desire to read had. In the end the book was very good. There are so many parallels that can be drawn from the book and applied to today. People don't really change it seems only the date.

For my project I drew a picture of Gulliver on his second adventure.

the lessons of Gulliver's travels

I have been reading Gulliver's travels as of late. Today I was reading about the people of Laputa. These people had an academy in their capitol city where extensive research was done. Some of the projects were: trying to extract sun-beans out of cucumbers, trying to reduce human excrement to its original food, and softening marble for pillows and pin-cushions. It seems to me that the goals of these experiments could be achieved by much easier means or are not necessary at all. This lead to me thinking about my life whether or not I have wasted a lot of time on things that lead to nothing or don't add anything of value to my life. Maybe playing hours of guitar hero instead of learning to play the actual guitar would fit into this category. What do you do that leads to nothing productive?

freedom of now and then

As we have been in class discussing the new freedoms that have come about with the new ages of thinking, I have realized more and more that I am in the midst of the changing of an age. A couple of weeks ago our class discussed how the invention of the printing press opened up a world of knowledge to those who could read. There was suddenly many more possibilities for learning religion and news of the world. Also, today in class the topic of the American frontier came up. On the frontier people could be what ever they wanted. They no longer had to have the vocation of their fathers. This is similar to today.

Today we have a whole new world of knowledge opening up that is free and easy to access. There is virtually no limit to the information that can be found on the internet. One doesn't really even have to know how to read to access most of it, thanks to video streaming. As far as being able to have a career of your choice, the sky's the limit. If someone is willing to work and make opportunities for themselves the world is open to them.

I have been able to experience this to a small degree. I will be the first kid in my family to receive a bachelors degree. I have been able to travel to many countries since i left home, and I have been able to publish a book of photos. Publishing a book is something that is very easy these days because access to the tools necessary are free to all who have a computer. I am the first in my family to publish a book, but now that it has been made so easy there can be many more published. Have a look.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1471450#

Animoto

Animoto is a new online tool that I have discovered. It is an easy way to put pictures and videos clips together in a professional looking video. The website is easy to navigate and is nicely connected to all major online photo site. The options given for free are nice, but only give you a taste. Most online tools have a free option to get you reeled in. With Animoto however, the free options are not quite enough to get me to even consider purchasing a years worth of usage. The free option allows you to make only 30 second videos. If I were interested it costs 249 dollars for a year. I can not see this tool being of that much use to me. I posted the 30 sec video I made on my blog. Unfortunately, this one gets a thumbs down for low value and high price.

Adam Smith vs. John Nash

When we were discussing Adam Smith and his theory of self interest in class, I thought of a discussion that i had taken part in a week or so before.

Adam Smith's theory of self interest was being defended when I thought of John Nash and his theory of equilibrium. In my mind I think John Nash has the upper hand. The theory of equilibrium or game theory by Nash states: if everyone acts in their own self interest while keeping others self interests in mind too the best outcome will be achieved. The only way to achieve the best for yourself and others is to keep them in mind when you are making your decision. A clip from the movie A beautiful mind illustrates it most simply.

A new world of blogging, surfing, and hunting

This digital civ class has been an education for me. I am not much of an internet surfer or blogger. I have gained a new appreciation for both. It has been hard to filter through all of the information on the internet about the subjects being talked about in class. The tools that I have discovered are great and are helping me with this I just need to get used to them. These tools like Google reader and Diigo help to filter internet content but there is still a lot to read through. It is a new way to gather information for me. I am picking up steam and starting to figure out how to gather and take in only what I want and need. Here I come!

Flickr to Create

For one of the digital literacy labs I chose to create a Flickr account; due to the fact that I love taking photos. I had heard about Flickr before but had never set up an account. I knew that it was for photos but geared a little more toward photographers or budding photographers.

Setting up a profile was easy and fairly standard. There are some nice organizing and printing options available. One of the other nice features about the site is the opportunity to join and create groups. There are thousands of groups, however, so finding a specific one could be a task. It is a nice place to connect to other photographers.

Have a look at the photos that I put up and feel free to comment on them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53549911@N07/

The level of a read

There was a reading that we had for class a while back that talked about how you sometimes don't have to really pay attention when you read and then there are some things that you have to digest every word. This came to mind for me because I just finished a book a few days ago and was thinking about how much thought I needed to put into it. The book I read is called The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I chose it because it had been given a Pulitzer. This book required much more brain power at the beginning because it is written in incomplete sentences with abnormal structure. Once I was used to this however the book was a much easier and much less involved read.

.

This was a surprise to me because I assumed that a more intense read meant that the book was better. The book Beloved by Toni Morrison is one of those books that has to be the full focus of your attention when you are reading it. This book also won the Pulitzer. I however enjoyed The Road and even cried a little. So I guess a strenuous read is not what indicates a good read.

Hanging out in the clouds

For the assignment in class I got to learn about cloud computing. At first I thought that it would be much to advanced for my minuscule knowledge of computers. I started the search on Google because that's where all of the answers in the world come from, right? That lead me to a youtube video that explained what cloud computing was. I have never used youtube for educational purposes and didn't even know there was quality stuff on there. I learn new thing s everyday! I found out that I do know what cloud computing is as do most of you probably. I just didn't know it was called that.

Getting down to business these days almost requires cloud computing. It is when you use remote software or processing and storage. I am pretty sure we have all done this. Google docs is a common form of this. This allows for computers to do many more things with only a high speed internet connection. You no longer need tons of ram and memory and processing power when someone else provides that for you. Nice. Prof. Burton has also introduces us to Prezi which is another form of this some concept. So off we go to compute and such, whatever that means.

What do you think?

[A]s good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagitica

I read this as part of a reading for class on censorship. It was written near the time of the invention of the printing press. I agree with this quote except that I am not quite sure about the killing the image of God part. What do you think?

technology and old people

So, last class we talked about new tech and incorporating it in our lives. While we were discussing in class I was thinking that I am a little bit behind the curve on that. I feel like the older you are the harder it is in general to incorporate new tech in their/ our lives. I am 29 and grew up with a rotary phone and a regular Nintendo. I didn't have a cell phone until I was 23. I feel like this has had a big influence on my tendency not to incorporate a lot of tech in my life. In fact recently I made a goal to not use tech as much as I used to. I think that this class is going to make me put that goal on hold:)

Introductions

You might be asking yourself why I chose wave shredder. Although i can surf I currently live in Utah, so there are not many waves here. I am the kind of person that sees something and does it. I am a woman of action both physically and in life. I'd like to think that I take life by the horns and get what I can out of it. Since I started college I have been to 7 countries, jumped off the highest bridge in Africa, enjoyed the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration and made someone their first peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever.
On the other hand, I do study public health and wish to empower many with opportunities to access resources that will aid them in attaining healthier lives. Health for others and myself is a passion of mine. I played collegiate level rugby for 4 1/2 years and continue to run distance races now. Not only is physical health important to me but learning too. I love to read and listen to books. There are always at least three books I am working on at any given time. Life is rich!