HW 42: My Finial Podcast for A Blog of One's Own

http://itw101.blogspot.com/2007/12/blog-of-one-own-53.html

HW 37: Podcast about Eid

http://itw101.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-of-one-own-33.html

HW 36: First Pod Cast!

Gabcast! A Blog of One's Own #16

HW 35: Calling all Readers!

Dear Reader,

This will be one of my last written blogs for my ITW class. It has been a journey over the last 13 weeks and I have learned so much. I never imagined all the neat things you could do on the internet. I got to create a wiki, make this blog and leaned more than I could imagine about virtual worlds. In doing my research paper I actually had to listen to my boyfriend talk about World of Warcraft for about an hour. That was probably the longest hour of my life. No, I’m just kidding. But I really hope who ever reads this blog in the future gets something out of it. I hope that by reading this blog that they understand that blogs actually are useful and you can gain a great deal of knowledge from them. HW 31 was probably my favorite post just because Ellen R. Sheeley, the author of Reclaiming Honor in Jordan posted a comment on my blog. I found it really exciting that other people outside of my classroom read my blog. I read the comment at home and I was yelling to my dad “Dad, Dad, an author of a book read my blog!” Ellen commented about what I wrote about Yanar Mohammed and agreed that women’s shelters in Iraq are important. She also added that in Jordan, there isn’t a single shelter for these poor girls and woman to escape. That was just quite sad that these women aren’t able to escape honor killings in their country. But thank you Ellen for commenting. I appreciate it! I definitely won’t delete this blog because I would like to referrer back to it for historical and sentimental purposes. If I find something interesting to post about what we have been learning in class I think I will post it on this blog just for others to see. So good-bye for now and I hope you all enjoyed reading my ITW blog. Thank you all for reading my blog!

Stephanie

HW 34: Riverbend's Cultural Experiences in Iraq

While reading Burning Baghdad the readers get to learn about Iraq’s culture through Riverbend’s eyes. In Iraq everyone drinks tea everyday. Riverbend exclaims “No matter how busy the day, everyone sits around in the living room, waiting for tea” (Riverbend, 108). Tea drinking is taken various seriously. It’s not just dipping a tea back in to hot water. To make the tea you first put the kettle of water on the burner to boil. Once the water is boiling the tea leaves and the water are put into a separate teapot on a low burner until the tealeaves rise to the top. Finally the teapot is set on top of a low burner setting to settle. There are hundreds of types of tea available in Iraqi markets. Riverbend says that the best types are from Ceylon. Iraqi people also drink tea from special glasses shaped like the number “8” called Istikans. Drinking tea in Iraq is very important in Iraqi culture. They drink it at breakfast, the afternoon and with dinner. Gold is also important in Iraqi culture. “Iraqi people don’t own gold because they are either spectacularly wealthy, or they have recently been on a looting spree….People began converting their money to gold--earrings, bracelets, necklaces--because the value of gold didn’t change” (Riverbend, 100). People in Iraq also use gold when a man and a woman marry. The man often gives the woman a dowry, a “mahar,” which is composed of gold jewelry. Gold is also often given to a family in little gold trinkets when a couple has a child. In Burning Baghdad, Riverbend explains her experience with the raids. On October 8th, 2003 the American troops were on Riverbend’s street. Her and her family feared they would take the gold jewelry. So the women in the family wore the jewelry underneath their cloths and put the rest in their pockets. That way if the troops did invade their home, they would not take their valuable jewelry. Luckily Riverbend’s home was not raided and their jewelry remained safe.

HW 33: A Pod Cast of a School in Iraq

I recently watched Alive in Baghdad‘s “Challenges at a Girl’s School in Baghdad” at http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/05/21/challenges-at-a-girls-school-in-baghdad/. It was published May 21, 2007. This pod cast was shot by Isam Rasheed and Translated by Qabas Al-Khafaji. “Challenges at a Girl’s School in Baghdad” talked to girls and teachers at a school in Baghdad. One teacher wearing a white head scarf and light marron lipstick was mainly featured. She said 225 students attend the Safina Middle School in Adhamiya, but just a couple of months ago over 300 girls attended the school. The woman said that “…Sectarianism and displacement has force some to join other schools.” She explains that this is the reason why there has been a great number of students dropped in all schools. When one student was asked if she was faced with any troubles on the way to school she said “Yes, sometimes when the Americans search the area.” The pod cast was shot at the school. The wall were bland and white with cracks and chipped paint. The classroom had desks, chairs and a chalkboard. The students all dress the same. The girls wore a long sleeved white shirt with a black dress over it and some wear headscarves. The teachers on the other hand wore colorful blouses. I learned a lot from this episode and I think others can learn from it too. Students there appreciate going to school and don’t take it for granted. I learned that one student said her family no longer wanted her to attend school because they feared for her safety, but the girl insisted on going. In America, I don’t think some children would necessarily choose to go to school if their parents did not want them to go. I found this quite memorable and touching. This footage differs from the footage you see on the news. I imagined the school to look a lot worse. On the new, they mainly show destructive property and violence, but this was different and allowed the Iraqi people to explain what they are face with in their country.

HW 32: A Pretty Horse with a Plait and a Bow…

In Riverbend’s, Baghdad Burning, Riverbend describes her experience school supply shopping on October 5, 2003. The day before her and her cousin‘s wife, S., went school supplies shopping for her 7 and 10 year-old nieces. “Every year his wife, S., takes the girls to pick out their own pencils, notebooks, and backpacks but ever since the war, she hasn’t let them step outside of the house--unless it is to go visit a relative” (Riverbend, 94). Riverbend, S., E., and an other cousin went to the stationary shop to look for school supplies. Riverbend and S., went inside while the men stayed in the car. S., was in a hurry so she went to go get pencils and crayons, while Riverbend went to go get copybooks. Riverbend took a Barbie and a Winnie the Pooh notebook. Riverbend also wanted to get fun erasers for the girls. So they got a strawberry eraser that smelt like peaches. It seems the Riverbend shops like Americans for school supplies. When I was younger, I remember having pictured notebooks and fun-shaped erasers. The only difference I see is that the men had to bring the women to the store to protect them and that the mother was too afraid of her kids safety to bring them to the store. Kids are kids though and what ever you pick out for them, just isn’t good enough. The 10 year-old girl was pleased with her school supplies, but the 7 year-old was quite unhappy with her Winnie the Pooh notebook. Riverbend tried to make matters better by telling the girl that it was a “pretty horse with a plait and a bow…” (Riverbend, 96). She was of course referring to Eeyore. The girl quickly replied that it was a purple donkey and “if I (Riverbend) liked donkeys so much, I could keep the copybook” (Riverbend, 96). Kids in America say sassy remarks like that just like Iraqi kids do. We not that much different, they just have a war in there backyard.

HW 30: Scott Ritter's Citizenship Symposium

Thursday night, I attend Scott Ritter’s, “Citizen Soldiers and Global Warriors: Challenges of Iraq,” as apart of the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium. The symposium started off with an introduction of Scott Ritter by Keene State College’s director of communications. Scott Ritter then took over the podium. For the first hour Ritter spoke. Then the next hour, he allowed the audience to ask question. Ritter was not her to talk to Keene State College to promote his position, but to tell his perspective. Ritter mainly focused on what it means to be a citizen, a solider and a global warrior. Ritter then spoke about how presidents are selected and in order to become president you must have millions of dollars. To this Ritter said “The system no longer works the way it was intended to work.” By saying this he is also referring to the people of the United State’s Constitutional rights and how the government has found a way to violate our 4th amendment right by tapping into our telephone conversations. The most interesting thing I learned was how different our country is. Our fore fathers intended for the country to be strictly run by the constitution and for everyone know it. Now people do not even now their basic rights.

HW 31: Responding to Riverbend!

While reading Baghdad Burning I stumbled upon the name Yanar Mohammed. Riverbend decided to watch “For Females Only,” a weekly program on Al-Jazeera. Yanar Mohammed is one of the three females that hosted this show. Yanar Mohammed is architect who has been living in Canada. She founded the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. This organization has been based in Canada up until a couple of months ago and it is now based in Iraq. According to Riverbend, Yanar has claimed that “women’s equality couldn’t be achieved except through a secular government because and Islamic government would definitely hurt women’s rights” (Riverbend, 65). When Yanar left Baghdad in 1993 to move to Canada, she establish the Defense of Iraqi Women's Rights in 1998, which has now been renamed the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. The Defense of Iraqi Women’s Rights opened a shelter in Iraq and saved over 250 women from death. Yanar has also been the director-coordination for the DIRW in 1998, 1999 and 2002. She is now a key speaker in the Organization of Women’s Freedom. When Yanar was asked what kind of actions is your organization taking she said this:

We plan to use all of this to create strong political voice. Our membership holds regular meeting to create awareness on women's rights and political matters. Most of our members then become more vocal and active members. The women who join us are taking increased leadership roles in their own communities and within the organization. Our first and most important project continues to be our women's shelters. These not only protect women in a range of situations, but they also issue a loud statement that honor killing, and violence against women cannot go on any longer. WE will safely house women in all sorts of situations (WHRnet).

Yanar Mohammed is a key in woman’s freedoms in Iraq.

"An Interview with Yanar Mohammed, Chair of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq." WHRnet. October 2004. Woman's Human Rights net. 8 Nov 2007 http://www.whrnet.org/docs/interview-mohammed-0410.html.

Riverbend, Baghdad Burning. 1st. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.

HW 30: June Cross's Documentary

At 7’ O clock last night I attended June Cross’s documentary and the discussion with June Cross as apart of Keene State College Citizenship Symposium. Here June Cross spoke briefly about her documentary, Secret Daughter. June Cross made this documentary “not because she thought people would want to hear her life story,” but because she wanted to get the message across about race. It was quite shocking to watch the documentary and seeing that her white mother had sent her to live with a black family because June’s mother felt that she would not be respected in the white world. After the film was shown, June Cross answered some questions. The most interesting this I learned from the film was that pain that June Cross went through in being a different color especially in this day of age. I also learned that the Cotton Club was performed by blacks and that whites would come and watched them even though they resented them. I remember in the documentary that June Cross would take the bus back and forth from her black family to see her mother and she described her life like the highway. She would watch the dotted lines go by, just like she watched her fantasies go by. At that time she was just a child and it was sad that she thought like that. It was also sad that her white family never claimed her as their daughter. She was either adopted or known as the child that saved from an abusive family. I enjoyed the symposium about June Cross. I found it very informational and interesting.

HW 28: "A Open Letter to Riverbend"

Dear Riverbend,

It’s is amazing to hear your story. I’m so used to hearing about the war from the United States perspective and it nice and informative to hear about the war from your perspective. I can’t imagine what you are going through. When I walk down the street I never have to think about what I’m wearing like you do. You said “Now, I don’t dare leave the house in pants. A long skirt and loose shirt (preferably with long sleeves) has become necessary. A girl wearing jeans risks being attacked abducted, or insulted by fundamentalists who have been ..liberated!” (Riverbend, 17) I can’t imagine how hard that must be. I wear jeans everyday and just to think that if I were in Baghdad wearing what I normally wear I could be attacked, that scares me. I also admire that you wanted to go back to work, but you were asked to leave because they didn’t want to be responsible if you got harmed because you’re a woman. That’s just crazy. I also can’t imagine how you live with missiles and bombs going off. Like when you were having the conversation with your brother on the roof and he ask how far away you thought the bullets were and you said “I don’t know… ‘bout a kilometer?” (Riverbend, 11). It’s sad because that’s a short distance away and yet you don’t sound concerned because you live in this war zone and your used to hearing it all the time. I just feel bad that you have to live like this. No one should have to live like you do and you say you have a better life than most woman in your country. I just hope that all this madness ends soon.

Your's Truly,
Steph

HW 27: An Annotated Bibliography for Baghdad Burning

Riverbend, Baghdad Burning. 1st. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.

In A Blog of One’s Own: Women in the Digital Revolution, students will be able to learn from Riverbend’s Baghdad Burning. Baghdad Burning is a collection of blog posts that Riverbend wrote about her personal experience in her hometown of Baghdad. The reader does not know much about the author only that she is in her twenties, lives with her family and brother and she worked with computers. The reader does not know Riverbend’s real name. In the foreword and introduction of Baghdad Burning, the reader is give basic information about Riverbend, the history of Iraq and the 2003 War. In Riverbend’s post, she shares her opinions of the war and shares her everyday life with the reader.
Students of A Blog of One’s Own, can defiantly benefit from this book. Student receive a first hand experience with blogs and acquire knowledge of the war that is occurring in Iraq. Students will have some struggles with this reading because students are not all that familiar with the Iraqi lifestyle and the War. But by reading this blog students will achieve a better understanding of the everyday life in Iraq.
Baghdad Burning was published because the Feminist Press wanted more people to read this blog. However, Baghdad Burning was writing because Riverbend wanted to rant about her feelings towards the War.

HW 25: Intro to Riverbend

In the book version of Bagdad Burning, Ahdaf Soueif provided a Foreword and James Ridgeway provided an Introduction to Riverbend’s blog posts on the war in Iraq. In the Foreword, Soueif gives an overall overview of the material that Riverbend will be writing about in her blog. Soueif uses many quotations from Riverbend’s blog. He says that “Bagdad Burning makes painful reading. It also makes enjoyable--even fun--reading.” He also states that “English-speaking readers are incredibly lucky that this young Iraqi woman has written her narrative straight into English…” This makes Bagdad Burning earlier to understand because us readers will not be caught in the translation problems and we will be able to understand Riverbend better (Soueif, ix). I just disagree with one of Riverbend‘s quotations in the Foreword, “Why does being anti-Bush and anti-occupation have to mean that a person is anti-American?” (Soueif, viii). I think that you can still be pro-American and anti-Bush. We live in a society that respects civilians even if they dislike their president. In the Introduction James Ridgeway speaks mainly about the history of Iraq. He splits up the history based on the influence that major wars have had on Iraq, including World War I and World War II ,the Gulf War , the Cold War, and the 2003 War. Ridgeway also speaks about Riverbend’s blog. From his opinion, “…her war becomes your war. You begin to see things through her eyes and those of her family..” (Ridgeway, xii). I thought this was a nice touch to the Introduction because Ridgeway does not just feed dry information about Iraq. Ridgeway also gives the reader harsh realities of Iraq, mortality rates and other statistics. “… [after the reconstruction] just 2 percent of the $18.4 billion earmarked for the urgent reconstruction of Iraq had been spent. Not a penny was spent on healthcare or water sanitation.” (Ridgeway, xvii) Thus soldiers were handing out $100 bills to civilian for helping out on street repair. Overall both the foreword and the introduction give helpful information about Bagdad Burning.

HW 24: A "Room" of solitude

Woolf believes that a woman should have a room of her own and money to write fiction and I believe that I have a room of my own. I have my dorm room and my bedroom at home. But when Woolf says that a woman should have a room of her own, I don’t think that it necessarily has to be a room, but a place where you can be by yourself and think in solitude. I am from a big family and usually there are six other people in the house, so it is hard to think in my room when there is chose going on. I found this spot in the woods by a pond, that I would often go to. There I would take in the atmosphere and reflect on the thoughts I had gathered there. Then I was able to have a clear mind to write on my xanga or poetry. According to Woolf, woman must also have money to write fiction. Woolf writes, “…give her a room of her own and five hundred a year…and she will write a better book one of these days.” Woolf is saying that if Mary Carmichael has her own space to write and is given five hundred a year, she will be a better writer. I am fortunate enough that my parents can afford to put me through college, which is where the whole money issue ties in. I am able to write because I was taught how too and I perfected by writing in my “room.” Woolf states, “…there have been at least two colleges for women in existence in England since the year 1866; that after the year 1880 a married woman was allowed by law to possess her own property; and that in 1919-which is a whole nine years ago-she was given a vote?” (Woolf 112). I think that society also impacted woman’s inability to publish writing because they had no rights and no education. Just think Almost 90 years ago woman just received the right to vote. In my opinion education is like having a room of your own and without education you are unable to write adequately.

HW 23: "What Woolf May Say to Salon"

With Apologies to Virginia Woolf

Last night while educating myself with the happenings of the world, I stumbled upon most disturbing article named Roundup: Pole dancing for preteens at http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/index.html. I could not believe my eyes. We as woman must fight for are pride and dignity and here we have children as young as seven years disrespecting their bodies. FOR IT IS A PERENNIAL PUZZLE WHY (Woolf, 41) the mothers of these daughters are allowing this disrespect to our SEX. One mother PREACHE, "its not slutty or anything. I've seen pole dancing on TV and they don't do anything like that here. It's building up her strength ... She's much stronger, healthier and more confident." How could one EARNESTLY have such feelings? The world today views pole dancing as a sexual act and now our daughters are par taking in this act. I am disturbed. I also stumbled upon the article at Salon Sex under Durex. The title I thought was speaking about our gender, but as I read the article I found the article spoke about sexual acts. The author, whom is a woman I might add, is openly talking about unprotected and protected sex. This is strange. I am not used to reading woman’s work and let alone sex. This is just quite awkward. I am entused to read a woman’s work, but I think she should write about something more conservative.

HW 22: Patriarchy in England

In chapter two of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, Woolf discusses the topic of patriarchy. Patriarchy is where a father figure and males have authority and it refers to a social situation where men are dominant over women in wealth, status and power. At the time Woolf was writing her paper, England saw men as the dominate sex. In chapter two, Woolf discusses what women are not allowed to do. For example, women were not allowed to write books about men (page 27) and women must drink water while men drink wine (page 25) . Woolf wished that one day woman would be able to participate in the same activities as men and now they indeed do. Woolf stated,” The most transient visitor to this planet, I thought, who picked up this paper could not fail to be aware, even from this scattered testimony, that England is under the rule of a patriarchy” (Woolf 33). On the front page of the Boston Globe today, the President and the Dali Lama are featured on the front page. This could be considered to be patriarchy because our government is mainly made up of males. Every single President we have had has been male and only males have run for president except for Hillary Clinton.

HW 21: Dear Pokey

Dear Pokey (aka my little sis),

Chapter One of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, may seem hard to understand. It’s different than most styles of writing. Basically, Virginia Woolf is writing an essay from a different persona. Woolf believes that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." This also can be expressed as her thesis. What makes chapter one so confusing is that the narrator explains why a woman must have money an a room of her own if she is to write fiction. The narrator comes to this assumption over two consecutive days in October. The narrator also states some facts through the reading such as women were not allowed on the grass and were only allowed on the gravel. Women also were not able to enter college libraries unless they were with a man or had prior permission. The narrator visits two colleges in the first chapter, an all male college and an all women college. She made comparisons about the two by referring to the meal consumed. At the male college, the meal was spectacular with lots of wine and delicious meat. At the female college, the meal was mediocre with plain gravy soup.
I think Woolf means to explain why women should have a creative room to write fiction. She wants to share a story through her eyes. The random occurrences throughout the day show the restrictions woman had and how it was so hard to “write fiction” because woman were not seen to be creative.
Now how could this be important? Well you are learning about the rights that woman had many years ago. Woolf wrote this book in 1929 in her diary during the war. You are able to learn a great deal of history through this book. The message that Woolf wanted to get across was “I wanted to encourage the young women-they seem to get fearfully depressed.”
When I first read through this work I was confused myself. I had to go back and read it a second time to understand it better, but over all I thought the work was interesting. It is not the style of writing we are used to today. I think you will learn a lot from this work. I hoped I answered your question!

Your big sis,
Stephanie

HW 19: Use blogs to get fast information!

I analyzed the paragraph at the bottom of page 88 of Web of Influence. Although some readers may object that the blogopshere makes it less time consuming for the outside world to acquire information, I would answer that is false. In this paragraph, in short, the author is trying to get to the point that blogs allow us to acquire summaries in a very easy manner. Where if you were watching the news, it may take 15 minutes for them to cover the story you wish to view. Daniel W. Drezner and Henry Farrell say “ The comparative advantage of blogs in political discourse, as compared to traditional media, is their low cost of real-time publication.” In sum, then, traditional media will make more money off of the political world then blogs will. Also when blogs are confronted with an error it can easily be fixed by updating their post or correcting their post. Overall blogs are useful and very helpfully for getting information fast!

HW 18: "Plastic Mommies" can appreciate motherhood too

My least favorite post of the week appeared on Salon (http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/10/04/plastic_moms/index.html). The blog post, Plastic Mommies, is a response to a New York Times article about different surgeries to repair mother’s bodies back to new. These “mommy makeovers” or “mommy jobs” consist liposuction, a tummy tuck and breast repair. On the blog post, Carol Lloyd says “For me, the advent of the mommy makeover is dismaying because motherhood has offered many of us an escape hatch from self-consciousness. Suddenly your body, after decades of experiencing its value as societal eye candy, transcends culture. It becomes food, furniture; it makes a life. That women are now paying to cut those vestiges from their bodies -- to erase that history -- seems not only self-loathing but misanthropic as well.” From what Lloyd says, she makes it sound like you don’t appreciate motherhood if you get plastic surgery. These mothers are probably spending thousands of dollars to get plastic surgery because they don’t feel sexy or beautiful anymore. It’s not like if you get plastic surgery you’re a bad mother or you don’t appreciate being a mother. I think it’s great if a mother chooses to get plastic surgery and if she chooses not to that’s great as well. Pregnancy does a toll on a woman’s body, and it’s amazing that we now have the technology to allow woman to feel better about them self through plastic surgery.

HW 17b: Zuniga's influence on my political beliefs

I’m not quite sure how to answer the question regarding Marie Cox’s blog and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s blog, Which blog would be more likely to influence the way you would vote in a coming election? I don’t think I would look to a blog for political advise, but if I were to it would be Zuniga’s blog. On the other hand Zungia say’s “I don’t have many swing voter reading DailyKos,” so it sounds like it would be hard to be influenced on the up coming election by his blog. Anyway, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga first started his blog to vent about the Afghanistan war. His blog continued to grow and grew even more once Jerome Armstrong’s blog shut down. Zuniga is a democrat and it appears that he tells the truth on touchy subjects concerning both political parties. In the political world that is hard to find, so I admire that about Zuniga. The reason why I wouldn’t visit Marie Cox’s blog to obtain information about the upcoming election is that Cox’s appears to take everything as a joke. It appears that Cox does not take the political world seriously and she’s more concerned with sex scandals than politics. For example, Cox linked her blog to Jessica Cutler’s blog and Cutler was fired for writing anonymous sexualized adventures that took place in her office on her blog, Cox didn’t even feel bad that Cutler got fired. Cox stated “Plus it’s hard to feel bad for someone who’s that dumb.” I just don’t think Cox has the right to judge in this situation. Cox doesn’t even care if she ruins someone’s day. In my personal opinion, I would definitely choose to read Zuniga’s blog over Cox’s blog any day. Even if Zuniga’s blog didn’t influence me to vote democratic, I still think I would have learned something important from his blog. Where if I read Cox’s blog, I think I would just be wasting my time.

HW 17: My Favorite Post on Solon: Broadsheet

On Solon: Broadsheet blog at http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/index.html, Lynn Harris published a post named Planned Parenthood will see you now. In this post Harris announces that a new planned parenthood opens in Aurora, Illinois. This opening was originally delayed by a specious protest. These protester tried everything in their power to shut down planned parenthood, mainly because they perform abortions. Protester said that planned parenthood committed fraud by identified themselves as "Gemini Development, LLC.” Later in court, planned parenthood was found that they were not breaking any state laws or city ordinances. In Harris post it is said that most of the women that come into the clinic come in for health care services, contraceptives or STD tests. She says that the woman who come for abortions, usually don’t receive another because they are educated at the clinic about safe sex. These Protesters have a right to protest about how they feel about abortions, but they should remember to do it in a respectful manner. Luckily at this opening the protesters were peaceful. In Lynne Harris words, “Women exercise their right to receive legal health services; protesters exercise their right to protest. In that sense, everybody wins.”
What I found most entertaining about this post was a response by Jebldmm. Jebldmm left the comment, “Protesting at Planned Parenthood to prevent abortions...
...is like protesting at a cancer treatment center to prevent lung cancer.” I just thought it was a witty remark.

HW 16b: Scobler's view on Blogs

In Blogs: Humanizing the Face of Corporate American, an interview with Robert Scoble, Scoble explains what makes blogging “hot”(Klein and Burstein p.130). Scoble presents five pillars of conversational software in his interview. He first mentions that blogs were the first to “ease of publishing.” What Scoble means by this is that blogs are very easy to publish things on. Blogs are mainly free or inexpensive and blogs allow everyone to write about the weather, politics or their feelings. The list is endless. Second, blogs were “discoverability.” Blogs enable people to get discovered with music, businesses, and their writing. All of this was possible due to tags and pings, which allows easy access to topics. Third, blogs were “cross-site conversations.” This allowed the people with blogs to add links to other people’s blogs and vice versa. This permitted bloggers to see who was accessing their blog. Fourth, blogs were “permalinking.” This permits bloggers to directly access a post by just clinking on a link on their blog. Lastly, blogs were “syndication.” Bloggers are able to benefit from this pillar because it allows them to keep educated about the topics they want to know. In other words it keeps bloggers in the loop in a easy way. Scoble’s five pillars are just some of the benefits of blogging. Blogging over all is an easy way to find out information and express how you feel.

HW 14: Joi Ito Transitionrama!

Although Joi Ito uses his blog for many things, he mainly post questions and allows other people to comment to start dialogue. As a result he created a community of bloggers. It is true that Joi blogs for a living, but he refuses to let advertisers influence his blog. In Addition, Joi states “If it means that I have to have a day job to keep my blog the way I want it, then that’s the way I’ll do it.” In other words Joi rather write what he wants to write and not be influence by money just to write what others want him to write.
In comparison of blogs and phones, Joi finds that blogs give people a way to find out information that they would be afraid to find out through phones. For example, Joi speaks about his favorite blog, Reverend Akma’s blog, and left a message on his blog saying, “it’s all you religions tat believe in one god that are doing all the fighting, not like Shinto where we have multiple gods.” This resulted in a phone call of Reverend Akma explaining God to Joi because Reverend Akma was offended to hear this on his blog. Granted that Joi was uncomfortable with picking up the phone to call Reverend Akma, blogs gave Joi the confidence to find out the information he wanted to know.
Ultimately Joi is pro blogging, but he also recognizes the few problems that blogs do cause. For instance, Joi says “One risk for many of us is to delude ourselves into thinking that we are more inclusive than we are…So there is a risk of starting to think you are listening to everyone, even though those involved in your community actually represent only a certain part on the spectrum.” So what Joi means is that we shouldn’t get too involved with blogs because they only represent one idea, instead of a broad variety of people’s ideas.

HW 13: The Impact of Business Blogging

I believe that the impact of blogging on business is more important than the impact of blogging on communication that is not business or profit-related. Many people benefit from business blogging such as the customers, the organization and the manufactures. Many customers are able to look at blogs to get information about products they are thinking about buying. Customers are also able to make blogs saying why they like certain products or businesses. As Kline states on page 223, business blogs allow customers to “sniff around for deals and partners.” Businesses are able to benefit by posting blogs about the products they sell, which can include what the products do and the price of a product compared to other business‘s products. Blogging for business actually impacts our society, where as blogging for communication, is just another form of communication. I think that our society is benefiting from business blogs and will continue to make the business world stronger.

HW 11: Applying Graff, Chapter 6 to "Making Global Voices Heard"

In an interview with Rebecca Mackinnon, “Making Global Voices Heard,” Rebecca talks about Ory Okolloh’s blog, the Kenyan Pundit blog. Ory attended Harvard Law School and is know for becoming the figure of the blogosphere in Kenyan Pundit. At http://www.kenyanpundit.com/, Ory tries to keep up with her blog daily. She resently updated today, September 25, 2007, after spending some time in Nairobi. Her post today included a link to jobs in Africa. In this blog, Ory writes about some political matters, the internet, and big brother (the show she just started watching). Ory also keeps you updated on her new daughter, by posting pictures of her and writing about her. The layout of Ory’s blog consists of a gray background on a white background with gray and red text. At the top of the page, there is a picture of a street that could be in Kenyan Pundit. Ory writes in a way that sounds like her normal speaking voice.

In Rebecca Mackinnon’s interview she says, “These young the-savvy professional Kenyans are using blogs to criticize the mainstream press…” This is not completely true now. In Ory’s blog she does criticize some political statements, but other things as well. For the most part Ory’s blog is up beat, not critical and not bias.

Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that Ory’s blog is not bias, but when I read through her blog it seemed that she was presenting conflicts with an open mind.

HW 9: Applying Graff, Chapter 4 to Waldman

In Ayelet Waldman’s interview “A Weblog Saved My Life Last Night, Waldman talks about her experience with blogs. She says that blogs saved her life because when she posted a suicide note, people responded and helped her through a rough time. In this interview, the interviewer states,” She says that writing so openly about her personal life was draining both her and her husband of story ideas. Plus it was taking up too much spare time--usually two or three hours a day.” By focusing on blogs, Waldman overlooks the deeper problems of family. She was so consumed with writing blogs, she overlooked the important aspects of her life, her children and husband. By spending so much time on the computer, it probably did not help with her bipolar disorder.
On the other hand I do admire when she visited the infertility and miscarriage weblogs because she sympathized with these woman and helped them through a rough time. Even though the interviewer asked “Shouldn’t you have been visiting mommy blogs or parenting blogs?” I think that her visiting these blogs, instead of the parenting blogs, does not make her a bad mother. It actually makes her a better person because she is able to help these women by relating to her own experience with her miscarriage. I think Waldman could still blog if she managed her time more efficiently. That way she could spend more time with her family and work.

HW 7: Applying Graff, Chapter 3 to "My So-Called Blog"

I think parents should monitor the things their middle-school children write online. Middle-school children range from age 11 to 14. These children should be limited to what they say on the internet for their own safety. There are creepy people in the world that prey on children these ages. These children can be tricked into giving their full name, address and phone number to strangers. Even if the child’s parents tell their child not to give out their personal information, they can still be tricked into giving it to strangers on the internet. Parents should also monitor what their children write on the internet because they should make sure they are not getting involved with drugs, alcohol and sex at such a young age. Even using fowl language should be monitored. In Emily Nussbaum’s “My So-Called Blog,” she asks a group of girls about a blog they have just read. Emily Nussbaum questions:

What kinds of things did she write about? I asked. Eating disorders? Sex? “All
of it,” they said in unison. “All of it.” (Kline and Burstein 357)

If a child is struggling with an eating disorder or hurting themselves, the parents should be aware of that so the child can get the proper care of a physician. Children do need their privacy though. I’m not saying parents should read every single thing their children write online, just enough to protect their children. That way the child still has some freedom with their writing, but they will also be protected by their parrents eyes.

HW 6: Interest Statement for Semester-Long Project

I am interested in various social computing technologies and the three I am most interested in right now are bulletin board and forums, instant messaging and email and email lists. I email every single day to catch up with my family mostly and I use instant messaging to talk to my friends. Bulletin boards and forums are also helpfully because they allow me to look at products I am interested in buying. For example I’ll look at forums for certain face washes to see if they actually work.
Three kinds of empowerment of marginalized groups that I am interested in are overcoming homophobia, issues of disabilities or learning differences and rights and empowerment of people with HIV/AIDs. I think that all three of these issues are looked over and need to be solved.
For my semester paper, I want to study a country that is not my own. I am interested in learning other countries cultures. I would like to learn more about empowerment of marginalized groups in either Africa or the Middle East.

HW 5b: Applyint Graff Chapter 2 to "I Blog, Therefore I Am"

In David Kline’s essay “I Blog, Therefore I Am,” Kline claims that blogs are going to take over the media world. On pages 242 and 243 Kline brings up a few topics that I question. Kline makes the argument that other media will have trouble succeeding in the near future because more people will be interested in blogs. He also hints at the idea that number of people reading books will decline and not many books will be around in many years to come. Kline says on page 243 “Of course, whether or not print media will survive in anything like its present form for 250 more years is anyone’s guess.” Print media, such as books, has been around for thousands of years and it doesn’t feel like it is going anywhere. People use print media everyday, such as newspapers, books, pamphlets, and magazines. Kline also continues to emphasize not just on these pages but throughout the essay, that television, newspapers and the radio will have a difficult time surviving through the new world of blogs. I don’t agree with this statement. Many people after work love to come home and relax in front of the television watching the news. Kline writes mostly in this essay of how blogs are good for the American society and how it affects the media, but some of the things he mentions in his essay I do not agree with.

HW4: Option 2, Response to "The Voice of the Customer"

In David Kline’s essay “The Voice of the Customer,” Greg Thomas is mentioned saying that “Great brands are always built on promise.” Kline then continues to state that the promise will help the product succeed. While looking around my dorm, I spotted a box of Wonka rainbow flavored nerds. The design of the nerds's box explains everything that nerds promise. The box is a bright blue with a rainbow located in the middle of the box and has colorful nerd characters jumping and parachuting on the box. By just looking at the nerds's box, I can tell that nerds promises a fun, colorful candy eating experience. My best friend and I have been eating nerds for years and ever since the fifth grade whenever we eat them together we always have “nerds fights.” Nerds not only create fun, but they also create memories. On the Wonka website, Nerds promises everything I just stated and more. Wonka promises that “The Rainbow Nerds Theatre Box packs a big flavor-filled taste sensation with the tiny, tangy, crunchy candy you can eat in your own way. Assorted Nerds flavors.” I do believe that Wonka does deliver its promise to Nerds.

HW 3: Summary of "Toward a More Participatory Democracy"

When reading “Toward a More Participatory Democracy,” written by David Kline, I felt as though blogs were more than just thoughts and ideas. Blogs were also the source of important debates, such as the media and presidential elections. It is often said that information from the media is not completely accurate. Kline stated that almost half of the American population does not fully believe everything they hear from the media, such as the news. Blogs have opened up many doors for the media world. Americans today tend to believe that most blogs have accurate information, but also present an argument. In the 2004 elections, blogs were especially big. More people visited blogs for presidential information in one month than people visited Fox News Online. Some individuals believe that blogs have no importance. One of these individuals is Frank Barnako of CBS.MarketWatch.com who stated, “Political blogging is like Ralph Nader. Nobody pays attention.” People do pay attention and trust the information of blogs. I think that blogs are still in the early stages of development. Blogs have already shown the massive impact they have on our society. It’s only a matter of time before blogs truly hit it big. I wonder though how this will affect our society in years to come. In this segment, I learned that more people trust blogs over the news. Since this is true, what will happen in the future for major news broadcasting companies? Will I guess only time will tell.

HW 2: Blogs are going Corporate

In Kline and Burstein’s, “From Cavemen to Wonkette,” the two mention twelve predictions for the future of blogs. I found the prediction that blogs will be going corporate is accurate. People use blogs to talk about almost everything including businesses. This is essentially great for the future of blogs and the customers of the businesses. Customers will be able to know what other customers think about the business’s products, services and everything else you would like to know. This could make or break a business. It only takes one bad review on a blog for the business to lose customers. I know if I saw a comment saying a certain restaurant had horrible service and awful food I would choose to go to a different restaurant. If I saw a good review on a blog I would probably take my business there. I believe that blogs have an extremely high potential for success in the near future with corporate businesses.