Movie Maker

My parents surprise 25th anniversary is coming up on the 28th and therefore I have been working steadily on completing the slideshow for them. I cannot believe how hard it was at first. My cousins were trying to explain stuff but nothing was making sense to me. So, finally I came over here to work on it and step by step it began coming together. First I added the 100 pictures. Then downloaded the 6 songs from Limewire. Then, I added the transitions and duration of each picture... followed by placing the music in correctly. Hmm sounds pretty easy doesnt it? NOT AT ALL! This is my third day on never ending hours trying to complete this but finally I am done! Looking back on this project I am glad I did it. Heck it makes me cry watching it... wait until I see the parents watch it for the first time! They will be teary eyed. Man I am so excited about this anniversary because I put it all together myself. Making the food, telling my sister what I need for decorations, doing slideshow, inviting everyone I know... it will be a great afternoon for the barbeque (hope it doesnt rain though since I do not have a plan b) hehe... anywys.. talk later!

What I have been doing since April!

Well, its been a long time since I feel like I have taken ECMP however I decided that I should write in here since its been a few months. Recently, I have moved to Moose Jaw where I work at Valley View Centre. And nonetheless, technology has overcame me in so many ways. Let me reflect on this. My car got into yet another accident and when it was taken for an estimate, the adjuster brought out this computer laptop thingy and used a pen to operate the screen... quite neat little gadget and to see him whiz through it was like WOW! I finally had my knee anthroscopy surgery at Pasqua on last Friday. Ok, where does technology come into play here. Well I had a spinal anesthetic so that I could watch the television screen of the inside of my knee through a microcamera they shoved into my knee to observed. Wow technology has came a long way. Lastly, my cell phone is my baby. I treat it with the upmost care and everything. My boyfriend and family think its attached to me 24/7. Lately I got a loaner phone because my phone's speakerphone, vibration, along with other features began to wreck. So, I am pretty lost without it. Anyways here is just an update on me!

Are Your Gadgets Making You Sick?

I just want to show you this site I found off of the internet. It is talking about technology and the medical conditions that can affect you. Tell me what you think? Do you think technology is that hazardous to our bodies? This article includes the diagnosis, the treatment, links to other articles, and comments.

http://www.switched.com/2007/04/12/are-your-gadgets-making-you-sick/

The sections in this article include sore thumbs, acne, poor vision, addictions, seixures, blood clots, and death. Also, sadly enough they are trying to say that a male may not be fertile due to long hours on their cell phones! Can you believe that!

Also there is a section on internet addictions. There is a self-diagnosis quiz to show where you are at in yoru online experiences. Try it out it is found on page 5 of this article.

How much do we depend on technology?

I am just sitting here thinking about what to reflect on for ECMP class. I have no idea where to start because there is so many things I want to say! But, before I talk about what I want to say about this class I want to take another look into the world of doing things online. I was reading a colleagues' blog and she mentioned something about online shopping, MSN, and things that don't require human interaction. Well, that got me thinking about something my cousin said last summer. He came over to the house one day and had the hugest smile on his face. We wondered what was going on, and he was proud to say that he accomplished a lot of things today despite he was in his underwear the whole day. We were like OMG why would you go out like that? He smiles and says, "Well I was able to do everything online! My banking, bills, shopping, etc" We just rolled our eyes at him as he continued to say that he could do this all day everyday and no one would even remotely expect he was in his underwear.

What are these online things suggesting to us? That we can roll out of bed, be lazy by staying in our pajamas all day while we get all our errands done. Obesity is becoming a higher rate, if everyone thought like my cousin did would obesity be an even greater percentage if we just had to sit at a computer all day? What happens to our face to face interaction with one another? Do we not like someone that much that we can't talk to them directly anymore? What about security of our banking and ebills? Are we not worried that someday we could be hacked and lose everything? What about those of us that go into chatrooms or SecondLife? Is it healthy to to take on a different persona or as said not have that social experience?

I am sitting on borderline about the dependency of technology. Some people use it for its advantages; while some abuse it. If you are a busy person with a full time job, a family, along with other things; I would promote that these online resources would be beneficial. However, if you are just a lazy person and aren't that busy overall... why not go walk to the bank, go to the store to pick up that item you wanted, go for a coffee with a friend? Its not that hard.... is it?

Digital vs traditional

Is the new generation of online resources taking over the traditional ways of doing things? Today I am going to discuss online scrapbooking vs traditional scrapbooking. There are many pros and cons for both ways of doing a scrapbook that I would like to share. I was reading an article while in the hospital about the "better" way of scrapbooking... but in the long term is it better or more of a hassle? Here is an excerpt found at http://www.photomix.com/articles/what_is_digital_scrapbooking.php
Here is a blurb from the site:
Traditional Scrapbooking vs. Digital Scrapbooking
If you are new to scrapbooking altogether then you are in for a fun ride. Traditional scrapbooking can be a slow process in which the scrapbooker needs a lot of supplies. First you start with going through the photos to find the ones you want to use, and then you have to make sure you have the table space big enough for everything you need to work on a page. Then you need to haul out all the supplies, including paper, glue, scissors, stickers, and a whole host of other notions that are used to create these masterpiece pages.
Before pulling out all of these things, however, you should consider the newest and easiest form of scrapbooking: digital scrapbooking. Once you try it you will never go back to spending hundreds of dollars on supplies and filling your table with so much stuff to create one page. Take the headache out of scrapbooking by going digital!

Well now after that promo don't you want to try it out! Cmon, you already took the pictures on your ever so expensive digital camera. You downloaded them all to your Mac computer. Now what is the next step? Why not create memories through digital scrapbooking.

What is your opinion of taking traditional forms of things and turning to technology in today's world? Do you believe that typing should take away from the masters of penmanship? Online scrapbooking should take away from the time and quality of creating a scrapbook as a hobby? Online games taking away from the social interaction of human to human contact?

Reflection on the course!

I saw that this was not publish but rather int he draft pile.. so thought I would send my reflection now! Yet again we come to an end of another semester as we set sail for a long and relaxing summer. Some of us may dread the fact that we have to come back to university; while others are excited to say "WE FINALLY MADE IT!" There were many obstacles that had to be overcame but in the end it will be rewarding to stand up in front of hundreds of people and receive our diploma knowing that we will all make excellent teachers. CONGRATS graduates!

This class has taught me many of things. It enhanced my knowledge of the wonderful games, programs, and more that can be found out there and used effectively and FREE of cost. Alec brought passion and enthusiasm to the class as he tried to impress us and entertain us many of times. He was always available to help us with our projects and didn't seem annoyed if we didn't know something well. THANKS!

Some things I have learned throughout this semester are: The Tapped Out organization is a great way to go to PDP days without leaving the comfort of your own house. Wikis are a good way to go to help present. Tux programs are very beneficial! I feel more relaxed while doing powerpoint presentations also! There are so many features and 4 months was sucha short period of time to view all of them.

I hope to stay connected with all of you through your blogspot or otherwise! Have fun!

Rant on Politics

After two months I finally went back to my hometown. I can't believe it was that long since I actually spent a weekend there to relax. All the stress and pressures I have had seemed to get better. That is what good ole country air can do to a person. As said, I was never a city girl... thus the country is where I want to be.

My family and I went to look at the highway washout on Highway 15 on Sunday. It was pretty bad as I stood in the 5 feet deep 12 feet wide gap in which was once a highway. Only in Saskatchewan is all I could think of as I remember the huge washout near Drake/Lockwood area last year. This makes me also think about a recent phone call I received from a political campaign. The person on the other end would not let me go until I told him what party I was going to vote for. Little did I know that there was an election even being held. This guy on the line was telling me all the great things politicians will focus on such as education, health care, and highways. Hmmm... I am not much for politics or the preaching of politics thus I did not have many nice things to tell the guy. Like cmon who spends $1.5 million on this promotional advertising on Saskatchewan! (like an exclamation mark makes Saskatchewan sound so much cooler). The good ole NDP did! (For more information on this check out: http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=8b90c2fa-3602-4bbe-aac2-f92c9559df09&newsPN=Shared) Now I wonder, what are politicians really here for because look at our increasing tuition, our washed out highways, and our long waits for surgeries or lack of hospital beds. Some things just don't make much sense. Hmm... who should I vote for considering all parties seem all the same!

Sorry for the bitterness, just had to express a rant!

Tech Task #9 - Software Assessment

Vanessa and I explored the wonderful world of PBS kids (http://www.pbskids.org)! It is an amazing site that is very interactive for children ages 3-12 years old. It attracts children by using familiar characters and colorful graphics. This site has a "friendly feel" to it as it makes kids feel comfortable. It is easy to navigate with an intuitive design. For example, the PBS symbol is found on each page for easy access back to the home base. There are many other cases where symbolism is used in place of text. The site is geared both for readers and non readers. There is a table of contents on each page that readers can click on to get where they want to go. For non readers, they are able to intuitively click on pictures that will lead them to the same places. We generally found the whole site easy to navigate. The content and instructions were user friendly and age appropriate. The instructions were written for older children and explained to the younger children.

We explored seven different television shows which include: Clifford, Sesame Street, Curious George, Berenstein Bears, Arthur, Maya and Miguel, and Mister Rogers (gag). We noticed the level of difficulty of the activities for each television show corresponded with the average age of those children that watch them. For example, Sesame Street, Clifford, and Curious George were aimed towards children ages 3-6; while the other shows were geared towards older children. We explored the Clifford's Puppy Letter game and noticed that there were easy and hard options. The easy options provide scaffolding to help children learn and eventually work their way up to the harder levels. We, also, looked at Arthur and we focused on letter writing and sign language for older children. With the letter writing activity, it provided choice in what phrase we wanted to express. After we sent our letter we received a quick reply back. These letters provided models of how to write interesting and informative letters. We also looked at Arthur's sign language instruction and it gave us sentences to practice. However, even though it showed a visual example as well as a written explanation, we were a little confused on some of the actions.

The site gives you a chance to practice learning in all kinds of areas including math, art, reading, music, languages, and more! In general we found this site to be "edu-taining" and we would definitely use it in our classroom.

- Posted by Krissy Wallman and Vanessa Richter

Cyberbullying

I finally checked out Weblogg-ed after so many weeks and there was one blog that really struck me. "Stop Cyberbullying" that was posted March 30th, 2007 (http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/stop-cyberbullying/) was very interesting since we actually had a presentation last semester on this. The article he posted was Schoolgirls bullied into stripping online, and this made me so sad to show how some girls are degraded to show their bodies on webcam. Sometimes girls can be caught up with being naive as they think they are just showing their goods to their boyfriend. However, you never know who is on the other side of the screen. It could be his friend or maybe a group of people staring at your naked body.

I just think of past experiences I have had to deal with concerning cyberbullying. Whether it is some person I dont even know or someone that hates me, I have had to put up with stuff they say over the internet. Sure you can block them off your list or delete the email messages, but is that the best way of solving cyberbullying? I don't think so, because if they are doing it to me who says they won't do it to others. I just think its funny how they sound so macho through a screen, yet when you tell them to say it to your face they seize up. This just goes to show the anonymous behaviours people can get away with on the computer. I am still trying to figure out a way I can find out who this one email address belongs to considering you can't do reverse email lookup now on the internet. What do I do when I was cyberbullied? Well, this may not be the greatest way but knowing who the person was I called up their parents and told them what was going on and if it continued drastic measures would be taken.

As for showing x-rated pictures, strip webcamming, or even "cybering" I think it has gone too far. I did a project once on the responses in a chatroom and the more scandalous your name is the more "freaks" you are subjected to. Who would actually have cyber - sex or show pictures of themselves to any stranger? Its degrading and pathetic! Also, this brings me back to a blog I discussed earlier about how pedophiles creep the internet looking for innocent victims and ending their short lives in tragedy. If you think its okay to "have a little fun" on the internet, it never is. Never give your personal information (such as phone number, address, credit cards, or even your real name) out to anybody over the internet. If you are being bullied tell someone before it gets out of hand and definitely save everything such as test messages or emails someone sends or threatens you with.

PULSE movie

I am hugely addicted to Flixster (www.flixster.com) which is a site where friends can get together to compare what movies they like to one another through ratings and give reference to some they enjoy. Check it out if your a movie buff!

I came across PULSE (2006) which is a remake from the Japanese version in 2001. It rather was an eye catcher for me considering I am taking a class on technology. I saw the trailer for it and I want to see it even though I heard it has some bad ratings and such. It is supposedly about how much people rely on technology, digital ghosts coming through cell phones and other technological devices, and etc. I included the trailer of the movie in the link below:

http://movies.clevver.com/video/18879/pulse-trailer-2-56.php

Comment if you have seen this movie or what you think of it. (It probably won't be that great considering its a remake... are movies actually gettting worse? That they result to like 5 sequels or else remaking the old movies...)

TAPPED IN DISCUSSION PT 1

Hey All! Okay, I have been able to delve into Tapped In, and enjoy a discussion on Wikis! I was only able to be there for 1/2 hour to check it out and IT CONFUSED ME! I understood Alec's way of doing Wikis a lot better than how they were trying to do this. However, the group I had were awesome. Maybe I just didn't understand because my mind was elsewhere and it was hard to focus, and everyone was talking all at once, but hey I tried the discussion not only to SIT IN but also participate. At the beginning of the discussion, the head honcho asked us to introduce ourselves and then he began the presentation. It was at 5 pm on Wednesday. I forget what Alec told us to do for this Tech Task so this is all I wil write for now, until I find out the whole objective about what to write. Before, the presentation, I had a chance to talk to one of the HelpDesk people named DavidWe and he was tremendous help! I had a real good talk with him, and got the background of the Tapped In site as well as his background, etc. So, if you have not partook in a discussion yet, please do so... its quite engaging and you will not realize how much time will pass :D

Math Presentation

Hey everybody! If you haven't noticed I have not been at school due to illness. However, nonetheless I have been keeping busy with assignments and everything. I want to talk about my upcoming math presentation. We were asked to get into groups and do a hard problem and present it to the class. However, the group that was ahead of us did the same problem as us. Needless to say, we did not want to be known as "copycats". Thus, we stuck to the same problem but we are going to present our linear programming problem in a much different fashion.. thus introducing technological innovations. I am going to try post our math powerpoint presentation on this blog so bare with me. We used the Microsoft Excel program to figure out the calculations and boy was it hard considering we were confused on the one equation to punch in. The question we chose was about a father, son, and daughter going for a walk and they can walk at different speeds. Also a bike is involved where only one person can ride at a time (they can go faster on the bike). Thus, what is the fastest time that all three individuals will finish within 20 kms. That is a brief synopsis of the question, I will post the real question as well as the Excel format at a later date. But I am just so proud of this powerpoint, considering it looks so simplistic... yet it was HARD due to getting the timing and animations down pat. ***Can I actually post a powerpoint presentation with 3 slides on here please comment if you know***

LIFE!

Time to get a life! People can take on a different persona wherever they are... such as on a phone hot-line, on the internet, in person, etc. I remember back in my childhood (well even now do to a computer game version) I used to play the board game LIFE! Every time we got married, had children, etc we would have to give names to everyone. It was just a part of the game we integrated. Playing that game gave us hopes and ambitions and felt more than just any old board game. The same goes for technology... Some people feel more comfortable behind a screen or a telephone, rather than face to face confrontations, while others like human contact. Through my experiences, I have had my share of being different personas to seek out information on MSN or a chat room and it is amazing to see how people can be fooled very easily. You can never be so sure who you are talking to (ie bringing back the ideals of chat rooms and pedophiles).
On the internet there is a rather new interactive website called Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com) where people create an image of themselves to be portrayed on fantasy lands with fantasy luxuries, but not at fantasy prices. People will spend their actual hard-eared money on such luxuries as clothing, houses, islands, and even dance moves! Its insane! Sure it is all fun and games, until someone loses their actual life do to spending their money foolishly.
Alec showed us a video today on a person with cerebral palsy who uses Second Life as an escape from his actual life. He quoted: "In 'This' world I can be more myself than in real life". In the aspect of this situation, this may be a gateway to meeting people because of a lot of judgment individuals have in the world. If they met him in real life they probably would never give him the time of day, but online he is able to express himself and show his inner beauty. That is one good aspect to the internet. If you are a truthful person you are able to show your inner beauty and a side of you that others may not see if they met you face to face. For example, this may be somewhat extreme but if you saw a person with leprosy would you have a chat with them, or just wave them off and be on your merry way? So, kudos goes out to that individual who created Wheelies in his Second Life.
Alec also showed us a parody called First Life (http://www.getafirstlife.com) which makes fun of the Second Life site. Check it out if you wish...

Aboriginal links

I have found a really good site discussing Aboriginal people and learning about them through games, literature, language, and such. I wish that I knew of this site throughout my pre-internship year; however, we did not have access to computers while I was teaching in my grade 2 placement.
http://www.native-languages.org/kids.htm

Also, for those who are looking for good literature by age level or such based on Aboriginal people I found a website you can go to find resources to incorporate Aboriginal content...

http://www.oyate.org/catalog/index.html

Hope you all enjoy this! I know it will help me on my major project :D

Tech Task #7 Spanish Podcast

Hi amigos e amigas. Cómo es usted? Estoy muy bien solamente un poco enfermo. Aprendí hoy cómo utilizar podcasts. Era una cosa dura a comenzar hacia fuera con puesto que no tenía iTunes, no obstante finalmente la calculé hacia fuera. Elegí una lección de lengua del descanso para tomar café y comencé con la lección 1 hasta que relized cómo es fácil era así que me moví hasta la lección 4.

"Hi friends. How are you? I am fine but a little sick. Today I learned how to use podcasts. It was a hard thing to start out with since I did not have iTunes, however I finally figured it out. I chose a language lesson from coffee break and I started with lesson 1 until I relized how easy it was so I moved up to lesson 4."

With the help of AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation, my prior knowledge, and lesson 4 of this Spanish teaching podcast, I was able to write that above paragraph. I have been fond of Spanish since I met a friend that was from El Savador and her family has made me feel very welcomed. In my internship block I decided to add a twist of teaching Spanish within my lessons and the prek and k children LOVED IT! I had them present songs (Head and Shoulders) to their families as well as including Spanish words in the morning/afternoon messages. Lessons 1-3 teach you the basics such as hi, how are you, goodbye, where are you from, etc. I chose lesson 4 because I have prior knowledge in Spanish thus I needed more of a challenge.

Podcasts are not a bad idea for in the classroom plus they will fit any budget (free). I had troubles listening to mine due to distractions and such, but if you wanted to add a centre to your classroom that is educational you can ask the children to listen to different podcasts and write reflections. I think it could serve as a valuable tool, depending on what podcasts are chosen. For the one I chose I believe it is very educational to me in order to enhance my learning on the Spanish language. I believe teachers could benefit from using this tool in the classroom for sure! In learning another language it is best to be an auditory learner in my opinion. I can learn a language much easier if it is spoken to me so I can work on grammar and how to say it correctly. It can be tricky at times...

Here is a link to the podcast website I have found if you want to further explore the Spanish teachings.... http://coffeebreakspanish.typepad.com/coffee_break_spanish/podcast/index.html

Tech Task #6 - crossword

Today we discovered the world of Hot Potato! You can create maze quizzes, crosswords, etc from it. Today I created a crossword from JCross. I focussed on Aboriginal content since I am trying to focus my major assignment on my aboriginal unit. Thus here is the link to check it out :D Have Fun!

http://education.uregina.ca/web/wallmank/ab%20crossword.htm

Digital Depression

Technology! Digital video cameras as well as regular digital cameras are not as great as people think. Hmm, did I really get two faulty items? How coincidental lol. But seriously, I am sick of these two things not working and they are not reliable at all! I know that I have full loaded batteries in there or at least that is what it tells me, but the next time I turn it on it says its dead... what is up with that? I buy the proper batteries and whatnot but nothing seems to work. GRRR! any pointers :P

Upside to my car accident!

Its been a week since my accident and things are not getting any better! Well, I am getting another car on Tuesday but Im a little paranoid of driving. I find it difficult to sit in one position for long periods of time thus the bus is getting to be a disadvantage (plus I am still a rookie for the routes). Thus, I found out on Friday - Sunday since it was such beautiful days I would walk from south end to the north end and to downtown area to see my boyfriend. I found it quite engaging as I saw much more than I would have while driving. While driving, I noticed how much people are in a rush to get someplace. While walking I was able to experience this "north central ghetto" and how bad of a neighbourhood it is (it is not as bad as Macleans' had said); smell the fresh polluted air, watch a cop track down a man and handcuff him in the middle of the streets, along with much more. I know that I have taken my car for advantage, and I am kind of thankful for the car accident now. I really got to see the person my friend (well ex friend) is, I got to see the person I am, and I got to promote healthy living. It was really fun to walk and not worry about having to be somewhere at a specific time. Two things I found beneficial walking were my cell phone and mps player though. I would of probably collapsed without the motivation of my music playing to keep me moving (however all my music got erased from it today somehow grrr) and to keep connected with my friends on my phone was also something to keep my mind of my hurting legs lol. So, one more mark FOR technology and not against.

Tech Task 5

Hey! I really hope I did this right (if I did not please inform me) and I found an efficient telecollaborative project that will be useful for years to come. I think I understand the whole ideology around this project so I looked up google.ca and found a site on Endangered Species which is a collaborative project of information amongst other teachers. This project can be used with any elementary level but the one I will focus on is grade 1 because the core subject suggests animals are taught in science. The collaborative teachers found on this site range from kindergarten to grade 5, thus modification can be used sufficiently to suit the needs of the students.
This project provides us with information on different endangered animals, can integrate different subject areas, and give us great lesson plans for teaching this material. Check it out at: http://www.redeemer.ab.ca/hsa/project1/Endangered%20Animals/endangered_animals%20home.htm

Debit Machines

Ok its time for a technological story! Its great, no doubt about it but is it reliable when you really need it, will it be there for always, will it never break down? If you answered yes to any of those then you are living in a fantasy world ;) But, I am going to write on debit machines. What a great invention we dont have to carry around large sums of money or cheques, instead we take out our plastic card, punch in our pin and bam make our purchase or receive money. Sounds easy right? Well, how about when debit machines go down, then what happens? We are strapped for cash, we look like a goof because we cant get our purchases, how do we give back gas once we filled up? Our dependency has became ongoing as debit machines entered the world. I know myself I dont carry around a bunch of money in case I lose it (from what I experienced from the accident especially GRR). The other day I tried to make a purchase and it didn't go through because they were down. Tsk tsk tsk, just another rant about the cons of technology...

Bad Bad weekend! R.I.P. #5

Well if you all haven't heard I lost my fifth baby on Sunday night. I only had her for two years (was one of the longest ones I had since my last one only lasted 7 months or so). It was really sad, people kept saying I was in shock but I was more angered that she left me .. now I feel so lost and alone. I feel too many things are scrambled in my head as I cannot understand how stupid I was to lose her. Yes, it was a terrible weekend! I did go to Telemiracle and had fun and could not believe how much they raised I think it was over 5.5 million! That is a record! But on my way back from Saskatoon, my Cavalier caught snow on a curve and boom I lost control and ended up rolling! I was soooooo angry because its like flashbacks of my other accidents I know the same B.S. since I have became such a veteran at this kind of stuff. I was not in shock merely upset to know that I have to go through SGI, cops report, SGI again, my psychological/scared to be in a vehicle phobia, and the pain that I do to myself. However, not only do I have to think about myself but I injured two of my real good friends and all I can think about is how I could of killed them or it could of been a lot worse of a situation. Thus, now if you recall my public transit bitter story last time now you know that I am a lot more frustrated with transit. Once again I got lost.. took the wrong bus scheduled time to go to doctors so I said oh well I will go home, then I forgot to pull the bell for my stop so I ended up joyriding around Uplands! GRRR! Sorry this is not about technology but I just felt like expressing my feelings! *Moment of silence for Old Red*

Update on what we have been doing in class...

I realized I haven't been posting about things we have been doing in class! Well, well, well ... where to begin? We have been looking at a lot of ways of using the internet in more teacher - oriented ways, ie. webquests, animation, powerpoint, all the tools and games that can be found, etc. It is a great experience to have this class and I highly recommend Alec because he knows a lot of stuff about technology and its tools... I feel I have benefitted and received a lot more knowledge being in his class more than I had in the spring one! Alec is a very passionate guy about his instructing and he has quite the sense of humour, ie with the voice activated screensaver!
We have also been working on our electronic portfolios and our major projects. For our major project, I dont know if I have mentioned this before... but I am going to make an online version of my aboriginal based unit I did in pre internship! I am so excited for this because a lot of people want to know where they can get resources to teach Aboriginal content within the classroom. I feel very good that I was able to experience this and be a candidate that I want to share my information of successes and drawbacks with everyone. So, if you want an idea I have lessons on housing, transportation, animals, etc. Check it out when I am done it!

Do You Believe in a Miracle?

HEY! So, next weekend one of the most amzingly wonderful events is taking place. Yep, you guessed it ... TELEMIRACLE! I love this event for this will be my fourth year coming to the liveaudience and as long as I remember I have tried staying up the whole 20 hours each year it has been on. I can't believe its been 31 years that this telethon has been running, and it is going strong ever since. I have talked to many people about this event and a lot of people say how boring it is etc... I will admit that if your sitting at home in front of your television watching it you may fall asleep, but being there in the live audience, watching the stars come out and the local talent shine is just amazing. Last year in ESST I focussed my historical project around Telemiracle! You can do so many things to incorporate this in our classroom. Amongst teaching children about diversity, special needs, Saskatchewan history, etc; you can also plan fundraisers to get your school more involved in local events. I urge you if you aren't doing anything or need a break from all your studies on March 3rd 9 pm to March 4th 5 pm I recommend taking some time to watch it! Its for a good cause, and you never know when you or someone you love might need their help! So lend a hand!

Bob McGrath one of my childhood favourites

Here is the website: http://www.telemiracle.com/ and if anyone else is going, let me know! I will be there for sure!

As for technology reference, well this telethon is BASED on the dependence of technology. The equipment (speakers, microphones, recorders, lighting), the television, phones, and cameras. In addition to all the stage setup and making of Telemiracle. We also have the equipment that people who are funded by Telemiracle have to carryout their daily lives. This means the electric wheelchairs (shown in the picture below), specialized computers and speaking devices, medical machinery to aide individuals, and more!

One of the many advantages of technology!

Reading Week and Convocation

HEY! So, reading week came to an end and its so sad to know that this is my last "reading week". I had so much fun this week as I got to spend the majority of it in Moose Jaw working. So, I tried life without technology throughout my night shifts and I came to conclude I could possibly do it if I put my mind on it (and if it wasnt for a long duration). However, due to boredom the first thing I turned to was my cell phone where I could send text messages and go on MSN. Other than that, life is going good! I have been in the process of changing my life around and everyone who knows me is shocked by this. I haven't had a drink in two weeks (pretty good start to complete sobriety), my car is clean and can fit 5 people (usually it can fit maximum of 2 people lol), I have been filtering out negative influences / people in my life, I have a new guy in my life, and I've been happy! YAY!
Also, I want to talk about convocation. The other day I think as Jamie said, "realization kicked in when she looked at her reflection in the mirror while taking grad photos". It is so true, I know that this is my last semester and everyone hounding me where I want to work; however, when I put on that black robe and had my pictures taken I felt funny in my stomach. I thought to myself, "In 4 months I will be walking across the floor receiving my certificate, WOW". I was so amazingly shocked. I to remember when we were little tykes in the big university (very scared of our first year especially some of us that come from hicktowns). I know I was scared to be here and I remember filling in my application to enter this faculty as I probably wrote 10 draft copies before I found the perfect one. It was one transition; as I will be entering another one all so soon. 2007 felt like it was far away! But darn does it sneak up on a person. I am not trying to think about convocation or anything like that because it is coming soon and I just want to focus on my studies instead of adding extra stress. But, yeah thought I would write how its been doing, so talk to you all on Tuesday!

Darn Car

So, as I sat here car-less for the past three days... I finally sucked it up and took "public transit". Im sorry to sound bitter or high class snob about it, but I just can't do that. Maybe Im not city enough or something, but I HATE public buses. To be truthful I have never been a fan of buses, so this does not surprise me. I took one in the city about three years ago and using my friend's gidance I managed to get lost. Yeah it wasnt the greatest of directions for a newbie in th city and then the crowds being around me. So, I swore I would never take another one. Well, I sucked it up and did it today and I still managed to be late for classes. I hate how we take the convenience of technology for granted. Like I can easily wake up adn start my car at 10 am and then go to school making it on time... but with public transit, you have to look up the schedules, routes, etc... Maybe I am just too simple - minded for all this lol, but it sure was a change and took forever to get to school! Fortunately, my car is better now! YAY! Sorry I had to rant!

Time-Scout

Ok! Situation solved on how to reduce the amount of screen time exposure. We do want our kids to live a physical and active lifestyle don't we? Instead of watching television, playing around on the computer screen, or video gaming.... Well, I just came across this Time-Scout TV lock website that actually counts the amount of time you watch tv, on computer, or whatever. It's where you can control the amount of time on these things without being the bad guy. Here is the link if you just want to check it out.... http://www.time-scout.com/learn/index.php

What do you think of this invention? Should it be marketted? Is it really going to be found effective? Will this take away from a child's technological skills with a computer... What are your thoughts?!

Video Gaming!

Video games! I have been responding to quite a few blogs about the evils of video / online gaming. Thus, I figure I should rant about it on here too. There's no denying it, video games can become an addiction! Yes thats right, it can become as evil as smoking meth or becoming an alcoholic (may not be that extreme but it does have the potential to harm you on some degree). I watched an episode on INTERVENTION about a mid 20 year old that was addicted so badly to video games that he had to seek help some way. He got right into the games and would sit days on end playing them. It was hazardous to his health, among other things. Video games are becoming a babysitter for some children, and why isn't there that great of a stink over it like there was when TV was called a babysitter previously? Especially the games that are coming out now are more interactive and viewed in first person form that it can become overwhelming for people to get so caught up in games. Mike, a fellow classmate talked about how a single father lost $100,000 of real money to buying fake stuff like a house and furniture for his fictional character on a game! My mouth dropped! I heard of children that as young as 6 years old are ebcoming so addicted to their games. I still say throw away all these gaming systems (yes its my bitterness not only because I barely know how to use the controllers, but its ridiculous) and get a life.

I read an article about the disadvantages and advantages video games have. It was quite interesting. The link is: http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.file/mobj/mobj.579.parents_vid-effects.pdf
Some advantages include:

1. Offer the potential to foster creativity
2. makes kids feel comfortable with technology
3. teach eye - hand coordination

Some disadvantages include:

1. Playing aggressive games display more verbal and physical aggression amongst playmates and objects
2. Desensitization to violence
3. Addiction
4. Reduction of physical fitness

This article also has recommendations for parents, educators, and children. So, take a look if you would like.

GRRR AT COMPUTERS

Okay! Check it! I am fed up with my XP and Dell. People go ranting and raving at how good it was, and I have one and its nothing but a piece of _________! Yeah you know what I mean. While in the middle of an assignment a booter got onto my Yahoo Messenger and the only way to stop this was to unplug my tower from the wall. Well, this has happened before and it worked out fine... but this time when I go into the log in screen there is no box to where I push to get onto my desktop. So when you push ctrl alt del it takes me to the log in screen asking for username and password. Of course I just got this computer so I havent changed the account information yet... thus its under the person I got it from. I DONT KNOW HER PASSWORD though! Is there anyway that I can get onto my desktop yet... or is a lost cause and do I have to reformat/ wipe out my computer and install everything again. COMPUTER BRAINS, if you know, post a comment! I think I tried everything I could....

Mini rant on text messaging

I cannot believe how much more I am noticing how the media is acknowledging technology! Once again I was reading the latest Carillon newspaper as I noticed there was an article called "Texting up a storm". They have contests on who is the fastest texter on a cellphone and you win some really great prizes. What is this encouraging us? One aspect to look at is it is teaching us hand - eye coordination, but other than that is it meaningful??? What are your opinions?

Creepers alert! (sorry for the length)

Pedophiles... I didn't feel as though I had to worry about that at such a young age as the children of today do! I can't believe how people can be this way... its like the introduction to cradle robbers and golddiggers, etc. The world is going nuts! I met my first pedophile when I was 18 while I was at a gathering and standing by this guy having a chat (I usually talk to older people anyways) and then my friend later whispers to me "You know he's a pedophile right?" The look on my face was probably priceless because after I heard that I was rather weirded out by this guy and may have said some suggestive language about him. I just wanted to give an example that people who may seem the friendliest can be an undercover pedophile.
Now, that the internet has been born... its easier for creepers to get their thrills and rob the innocence of younger individuals. As blossoming adolescents, some children may not know the dangers of pedophiles. C'mon, the internet messengers and chat rooms are for fun right? Its a place where we can interact and get to know people all around the world? But in another perspective, it is a place to cause havoc, show r-rated material, and even cause death. Our instructor in ECMP gave us two readings on the dangers of Internet chat and instant messengers which I will link at the end of this blog. I read through these and was disturbed by this. Two 13-year old girls lives ended tragically because of the internet. I won't go into a long winded rant about it, but I just thought I should post this! Too many individuals are fallen victim to chatrooms by giving out personal information, fake identities, etc. You cannot distinguish reality from fiction. I know of too many scenarios of people meeting each other to soon discover that it wasn't the same person you were talking to on the computer. The computer screen can change a person to whatever they wish to be. I admit I have gone to chatroom time to time, and sadly the people you get on there include horny guys that can't get any, complete weirdos/as said pedophiles (ewww 57 year olds hitting on you); but sometimes you do get a normal person that is there to engage in conversation. I did a research paper on chatrooms back in high school as I entered a chatroom as some sexually explicit name (ie. Foxygurl or Sexygirl) and then I entered as jsut an average Joe name (ie Sally) and to see the responses I received from both names was quite interesting... hence with those two 13 year olds taht were murdered it can be assumed that maybe their names were rather suggestive or they portrayed themselves too openly to get to where they are today. I'm not completely making the internet/chatrooms a scapegoat to how the children are growing up or getting killed. I just want to address the increasing awareness because frankly it is all around us in society and the internet is just another factor. I have met a few good people on there and I actually became really good friends with one of them. I know a few of my friends that actually met their spouses on there! Just questions I want to leave to ponder... what can be done to filter the internet further so things like this could be prevented (it said in one of the articles that evena parental filters cannot show parents that their kids are going into chatrooms)? Like the "sex talk" parents give their children, should they also give them an "internet awareness" talk? Have any of you had experiences with chatrooms, messengers, or whatever other source to interact with people which led to questionable things?

http://news.com.com/2010-1071-922124.html
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/1823797/detail.html

MapClustr

What an excellent program to put onto a blogspot or anywhere for that matter! We were introduced to this an the beginning of the semester but I added it about a month later. This site shows the locations in which visitors view your site and I am rather surprised with where some of my viewers came from. I have people all the way in China area, many places in USA, and in Canada. I wonder how they got this site since it is just posted to those in ECMP class and my friends that I know on my MSN. HMMM.... this is just another example to show how impersonal the internet is and how anybody can see what you are doing. So, be careful what you write.... which leads me into my next blog....

Pondering thoughts.....

While in Nokomis for the weekend I was reading a few old Leader Posts and listening to the radio since no one wanted me to talk.... and I came across two important news items that I felt is well worth discussing.

First, on the radio I came across a small debate on whether or not second hand smoke should be considered low grade child abuse. They further questioned whether or not children should sue their parents on being exposed to second hand smoke, so this would make parents aware of their actions. What do you think about this matter? Should children have that FREEDOM or whatever you want to call it to sue their parents? What about siblings that smoke, or their friends? Would they be entitled to sue them to? Or how about people in society... how far would they be willing to take this? Smokers aren't able to have kids? Or what? LOL let me know your thoughts.... I know its not about technology but still I think its getting to be an issue!

In the January 27th, 2007 Leader Post, on the front page there was an article on technology and schools. It speaks about Regina schools putting a limit on cellphone use. The link to the online article is at: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=93aa9ef3-a562-48f3-b45d-49084fc73b92
As an aspiring teacher would you want one of your students using a cellphone or a mp3 player on the school premises? Does this give students an easier access at cheating on assignments and exams? What are YOUR views on this matter. ...

Tonsil Thursday!

So, I have been gone for what seems forever... but turns out to only be 3 days! A lot has happened since the past ECMP class that I want to address. So, I am sorry if I post a few blogs this time... On Thursday I went to the Pasqua Hospital to get my tonsils out! (FINALLY THE FREEDOM!) It was a little terrifying at first because of all the horror stories I heard, and the fact that I felt so very alone. All I could think of for the 3 hours I was in the admittance room was: "I wonder how class is going? I want my cell phone to at least entertain me some! How short do they make these gowns." Well, sadly enough (and I knew it would happen) they took my cell phone away as well as all my personal belongings as I felt so very alone! The operation went well, am surprisingly I felt pretty darn good for waking up from a "sleep" at 5 pm. However, the doctor requested I stay in for the night because he saw some bleeding (well not to be rude or anything, but wtf do you think you will see right after you cut something out of a person... fricken roses!) Anyways, I was sent to a private room where I pouted for half the time because I had NOTHING to entertain myself like no tv, no cell phone, no magazine even! An hour after being there I got my cell phone so I could text message people and thankfully I had it because it kept me sane (I hate the hospitals)! Then, after being a restless patient I was able to wonder the hospital floor where I found a tv! YAY! Thus I watched ET Now and learned that the YouTube's video on the Freakout Bride was just a bunch of drama students. This goes to show that you can't believe everything you see and hear! But all in all, I just wanted to rant about how cell phones / text messaging can be a good thing (and hey I figured out how to do T9 word texting YAY ME!). Thanks to all that thought of me that day! You guys are awesome! And as for ECMP class, hmm I guess I have to be quiet for some time.... well I will attempt to talk of course lol (won't you miss my loudness ;))... peace

Technology at its best!

Well, some of you may have been reading my blogs and thinking I am quite negative towards technology. So, maybe I will tell you about some highlights of it (not dealing with computers but with medical advances). I work at Valley View Centre and we were introduced to lifts and electric beds and much more. Back 50 years ago (heck I think it was even 20 years ago), they did not have these luxuries and the staff would have to manually do everything such as lift the heavier clients which was strenuous to their well-being and may jeopardize themselves. However, with the advances of putting a client in a sling and using a mechanical lift is quite relaxing and does not hurt ourselves as much. THANKS TECHNOLOGY!
Ok, enough with the sappy moment of praising it. Let's get back to my other views... The other day, I was drawing pictures on the wall at work using a projector and transparent sheets. This was pretty much the FIRST TIME I used a projector and I had no clue how to use it. It was rather an old-school one, and so I had hard time finding the button to turn it on, focussing it, making it the size I wanted, and all that stuff. By the time I figured everything out, I could of just drawn the stuff free-hand on the wall! I guess this was a good lesson to be learned as I am getting into a profession where I may need to use the projector for different lessons! *sighs*

Digital Camera usage :D Fun lesson!

I was searching through my H: Directory when I came across this photo. I can't believe I still have it, so I figured I will share it with all of you. I was in ECMP in the Spring course for about a week and on first day of classes we were given digital cameras and were given the opportunity to explore the university and take pictures of random things that interested us (using all kinds of features on the camera and perspectives/sides to the object). After taking the pictures we had to upload it onto our computer and then go to this site (forget what it is) where we can alter the pictures with special effects, fades, and more. We had to use 2-3 different effects for our final product; thus this is my final picture. Can anyone tell where each of these pictures were taken? (especially the one in the top left hand corner) I used 8 pictures to form this scene and I loved this assignment because it gave us the freedom to do what we wanted, set it up however we wished, etc. VERY FUN AND CREATIVE, GOOD IDEA FOR AN ART ASSIGNMENT DEALING WITH TECHNOLOGY, if you have a digital camera in your classroom that is ;)

New Findings in ECMP

Well well well... another day we learned the wonders of what the computer can do! We have learned many things such as Microsoft Office and how easy it is to complete many cover letters from using mail merge; slideshow and how to use captions and other special features; the many games that are educational and fun to play; how to create a blog (and still finding new things to put on it); wikipages; and where to get music from (pandora and singingfish are my favourites now) Today, we finally learned how to do some REALLY COOL stuff! LOL How nerdy does that sound?

We focussed on creating animation and creating our own webpage! The animation thing is so cool (we used MS Paint to create slides, then we went into Unfreez to create an animation film strip sort of thing). Later we went into SmashMX and it is pretty sweet! This is where we can do anotehr kind of slideshow where we can add text and pictures and then watch it. If I can get my "first" creations onto my blog site I will post them on to show you my creativity ;) Well its not that creative since it was a lot to take in for one class... but its a start. Lastly, we learned how to create a webpage! I have been trying to find a program that would suit me and be easy to understand. I thought creating a webpage was so hard, like only special computer people could do it. I never thought that I would be able to. But I can! YAY! This is what I have been waiting for awhile since I have NO clue how to do it and the ones that I have tried sucked majorly. We used a program called DreamWeaver and it is great! I know how to link pages together, design, make it pretty, all that jazz! Now I am really excited to start on my major project! I have the perfect idea... now we will see if technology will be my friend or my worst enemy!

The Carillon posting

Recently I picked up The Carillon Jan 18-31, 2007 (Vol 49- Issue 13) university newspaper. On page 21 there was a commentary on overrated technology in 2006 by Matt Obrigewitsch. In this article he discusses the disappointments that technology has been in the past year. He stated: "In our consumer society, so many products are hyped before they are available in a sometimes futile attempt to get us to buy the merchandise". To begin he starts with the Apple's Mac computer. He tells us how people focus on the "Mac" part and forget the computer part and how costly it can get to fix once it breaks down. Then, he goes on to say how YouTube "is filled with poor quality junk; it is about one person coming up with a good idea, five people copying and filming it with a cellphone camera, and thousands of others saying 'omg 2 cool' or 'u suk'". Lastly, he talked about gaming systems such as PlayStation 3 being overrated by Sony itself. It is way too costly ($680) and uses Blue Ray discs to play movies.

This article really stood out to me because its someone's opinion about technology. Some people may agree or disagree with Matt on his view. What do you think? Do you believe that a lot of technology that is coming out is overrated? If so which ones and why? While looking at this article, I agree with him on the gaming systems because seriously coming out with a new system like every year for $700 + is not the best way to spend money (especially for university students). However, I like YouTube and the videos that can be found on there. So, I agree with some of the things he says. So, let me know what you think? As Matt concludes: "In the meantime, keep your eyes on the iPhone".

What you can do on the net!

Hey Everyone! I created this bottlecap from going to this one website where you can choose a picture and then "type" whatever you want onto it. I also did a bridge where what I typed looks like actual graffiti in which I fooled a few people that I actually did. It looks rather realistic; however, when I wanted to go back to this website I forgot what it is called since I did this about 2 years ago. So, if anyone knows what site this could be, let me know!

Career Expo

Hey! Time is sure flying this semester and year. Can anyone believe it is already January 23rd??? I can hardly believe this! Soon enough most of us in this class will be graduated and pursuing teacher careers. How did everyone enjoy the Career Expo yesterday? I found it very informative yet stressful finding a district that I would want to live in. All we can do is cross our fingers though right?
Besides this, how is technology going in people's lives? Any new things you have done that you haven't yet? Well, I just got a new cell phone with camera, text messaging, and more features that I was not used to from my old 2003 Nokia phone. I am still discovering things on this phone such as flash for the camera and understanding how to use T9 word (yeah Im simple minded so its really hard for me lol). At this moment in time of only having the phone for 5 days, I cannot understand how people can text message so much and so fast. Maybe I am just old fashioned, but wow it takes me like 10 minutes to type a simple sentence!

Cartoons

I would like to take the time to reflect on two cartoons I have chosen for my blog site. The first one is at the top and I chose this picture to show our dependence on technology. I strongly believe that technology is taking control of us instead of us being the ones controlling technology. Thus, I chose this picture to show evidence on how reliant we are on technology and how it is it our lifeline. I would like feedback about what you all think about the cartoon I have chosen. Do you agree or disagree?

Also, I chose something that is funny, yet suits my lifestyle (being known as a hick I found this funny at least). For those who know me, understand my hatred for cities. I will always dislike cities because of the busyness, crowds, traffic, etc. Through the first teck task I noticed that I am not the only one that is "country" in this class, so I figured since we are learning about a bunch of high tech fancy schmany terminology and whatnot .... I wanted to show the country way of technology. If you were to travel back 50 years ago, and you asked townsfolk what reboot, mouse, and even modem meant, how do you think they would respond? Maybe in the same fashion as the cartoon?

This is just some things to think about and "reflect upon" (since we all know we all know in the education section we all LOVE to reflect) on how much technology has changed throughout the years. Hope to hear some feedback
Peace.

What Language Programmer Are You?

So, I went to a site Alec blogged about what programming language are you? I found that quite interesting. I am php! I believe this rings true to me, I do enjoy the web and I do confuse people who work with me! I'm a confusing person time to time but yeah its all good! Just thought I would share my results with everyone. You all should try it!
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2006/08/language_quiz.php

Personal life

Well, I figure I should write a little bit about myself and what I have been up to the past while. I am on a roll at blogging I have blogs coming from everywhere it seems. If you want you can check my blog out on MSN myspace (if you dare to seek the dark side of me just kidding). I wanted to keep my personal side away from my professional side; however, I figure I will tell you a bit of news about myself that I haven't already said in my profile. My name is Krissy and I have many of nicknames that you probably saw. Yeah some of them are a little nuts but all have meanings behind them. I described myself to my coop is that I have many sides to myself, and he always commented on these sides, dominantly on my hick-ness. I'm just your average student, in her fourth year of elementary education and anticipating April to come quickly. People tell me not to look forward to the "real world" and spend as much time as you can in university... well I feel like I have been here forever and I think I just greatly want to get out of this city.
I pre interned in a grade two classroom at MacNeill School and interned in a prek/k classrooms at Imperial Community School (both in Regina). I had a lot of fun teaching and in some sense it didn't feel like teaching at all. I was told taht internship is the hardest part of the program and to be truthful I found it to be the most fun! Going into internship I was very bitter due to fact my first coop backed out on me the last minute and I got asked to go into a classroom which was my last preference. Nonetheless, I made the best of it and in four months the little munchkins grew on me. Pre internship and internship was a time for me to test my boundaries. In pre - internship I focussed on a whole unit on Aboriginal content (boy that was sure a hassle, but accomplishment all in one), and in internship I focussed on the five senses but to raise the bar I taught the children Spanish and made my pre k kids do special presentations for the family. Also, my pre k kids and I created a song along the same lines as "Looking for Dracula" but ours was a Christmas version.
Other than education, there is a lot going on with my personal life. Some greatest accomplishments is finally making the doctors believe my knee is still hurting after 2.5 years and I'm on a waitlist for Scoping, and I am having my tonsillectomy on Feb 1st (another accomplishment because this took half a year if not more to get into a specialist) . Also, I work as a Casual on Resident Care at Valley View Centre in Moose Jaw on the weekends. This is one of the best jobs that I have had and it is something I am passionate / interested in (special education component). Working out in VVC has taught me many lessons that I can adapt to my teachings such as passion, caring, loving, understanding, motivating, staying active and singing songs, etc. I will definitely take what I have learned into my teachings. Alas, everyone had something to say about their weekend. To sum, mine was sad as I found out some very upsetting news and am attending a funeral for a friend of mine on Wednesday. So, things can only look up from here...

Peace. Love. Happiness.

New things I learned and my family tree book

Wow! The new things I am learning in this class is great not only for my career as a teacher but also for my personal usage. The tux games we played are SOOOOOOOOOOO much better than the games I remember. Tux Typing beats Mavis Beacon; Tux Paint beats Paint; Tux Math beats math blaster! I remembered when Midnght Rescue was the in - thing in my school. Wow was it sure a great game on the old orange and black screens! Now you can do virtually anything on the computer in full color! Spreadsheets are a wonderful thing to have to record data for grading. I have used spreadsheets before and nothing has phased me because the equations for averages and the cells are very similiar. But, it was a great review to have!

I am still at doubts with technology because let's face it, it can screw up just like anything else! Back in high school, I was one to write a lot of stories, essays, and reports. I was not that smart to save every ten minutes and thus sometimes I would push a button and it deleted everything on me. There was no way of retrieving this at all, and thus I disliked technology. However, I am so happy to learn about the different things about Microsoft Office that I did not know about before. For resumes, letters, and cover letters, I will definitely think about using mail merge as a source of making things easier on me.

I think one of my greatest accomplishments while dealing with computers is my family tree book. Four years I worked on my family tree book while attending high school. Four long and grueling years (maybe that is a little dramatic); but, it was hard work and partially due to the fact I made it more complicated than I should have. I would of been done in 2 years; however, we just got a new scanner and thus I figured the family tree book would look awesome with pictures of my family in it. So, waiting for snail mail (ahhh one great thing about the internet is receiving pictures much faster than snail mail) took forever. Finally when I started scanning my pictures they were all sizes so I had to learn about cropping and making sure that I enlarged the pictures the same length and width so that some pictures didn't make the people look bigger than they should have. Thus, I was finished December 2004 and believed it was a success. Unfortunately, a family tree is never complete. So, with this said technology played a very important part because with receiving a hard copy of the book, I also included a cd rom with pictures and a disc (rtf format) so that when new information arises they can just add it to the book electronically.

Remote Assistance

Hey everybody! I don't know if its from sleep deprivation last night or what but I am yet truly amazed at the power of technology. My boyfriend introduced me to remote assistance tonight. Does anyone know what that is or am I just behind the technology time? My mind is still boggled, yet intrigued, all at once. Of what I gathered you can go into someone elses's desktop and do stuff (or like Alec mentioned "assist another computer user from a distance"). Its really weird! From my computer I was actually be on his desktop also, where I could have conversations with his friends, change his tunes, go through stuff of his. Although it did lag somewhat, it is interesting to be able to jump from desktop to desktop if needed at a click of a button. Maybe technology can be beneficial especially something like that when you have no clue what's going on and you need help asap!

iPhone perspective

Picture taken from http://www.apple.com/iphone/

There is a new technology device sweeping the nation and that is Apple's New iPhone! The iPhone has many different functions; it is a cell phone but it is also an iPod where you can check email, send text, photos, watch videos, and more on a touch screen. The website to look at such a "revolutionary advance" is http://www.apple.com/iphone/

The underlying question is "do we really NEED this?" Well, obviously the answer I will say would be NO! It is just another luxury item to distract some people from everyday events. It is bad enough talking on a cell phone while driving or text messaging while a friend comes to visit you; now we have a whole new distraction.

What will they think of next? Technology where with a push of a button you can access food, go to bathroom, get dressed, etc? Where are our lives heading? A lot of us rely on technology to get us through the day... check it out we take a car or the bus to school, we use computers to type up reports and research, we go on MSN to chat with our buddies, etc.

Technology is everywhere, no denying it; however, what did they used to do in the past? Hmm... People complain at how hard life is nowadays but if you want to think of it in another aspect we have it pretty good compared to 100 years ago, 50 years ago, heck even 20 years ago! And now they are thinking about implanting microchips in your head to be used as a cell phone! OH MY GOODNESS! That is all I have to say! I am guilty of using MSN for means of communicating to others or the computer for my writing; but I could live without it. In truth, it is getting to be more of a problem then a luxury (at least in my case). They have already created things to send messages, photos, have digital music and videos, and whatever else this iPhone does. But now because of our "wanting" of such technological devices they had to bring it all together into a hand held carrying device so that we can be around this stuff even more. At least, when a person went to university or to your job they can get away from such things so that it would be somewhat of a luxury; but now what luxury is it really? I don't really agree with these kinds of technological advances, but I think advances that are helpful such as machines for medical purposes for example are beneficial in society.

Why do we feel now that we can't function in society today without having the best computer/phone/tv? ( Jenna Pfeifer, ECMP 355). We feel compliant that we must follow the trends. If you meet someone that doesn't have a cell phone or digital camera, it's like a huge gasp and shock of why they wouldn't. Technology can be compared to as survival of the fittest. If you don't have the most up to date material you are living in the past. Why must we let such things swallow us whole and make us feel we have to spend our money on this?

what i learned today

I am hoping to learn a lot in this class about technology and computers in general. I am really interested in creating a DVD with music and maybe some videos for my parents' 25th anniversary. I think this will be a huge job but I am determined to get it done for August! I am excited to discover the different things that the computer and internet has to offer. Thus far, I have fell in love with tux tools, blogging, and youtube videos. The Free Hug campaign is awesome! That is just something I could see myself doing someday while watching down the street. Yeah Never dare me to do things because I will do them :P Anywho this is just a short note before class ends but rest assure you will get annoyed of my blogs because they can get lengthy at times! :P

Peace.

My First Blog

Hola Amigos e Amigas!
This is my first blog and you may think of me as Jekyll and Hyde if you compare my MSN myspace blogs to this one. I have decided to separate my MSN blog to this one because like in education (at times) we have to separate our personal/home lives with our professional lives. I hope you enjoy this site! I will have some pictures, my opinions, links, and just random blogging. So, enjoy and Feliz Ano Nuevo (Happy New Year)!