Adventures

Virtual worlds are nice. Its fun to see how people represent themselves. I get to run around and buy things or chat with other avatars. I joined IMVU, but it crashed. Then there is Zwinky. I like Zwinky, but some of the users are sooo young...it's weird because the older crowd is mixed in with the younger crowd. That site should be seperated by age, so that the older crowd are separated from the younger crowd. In my opinion, it's just like a myspace. You have your own page, you can request and invite friends, and you can create how your avatar will look. I made mine to look like an alien on purpose. LOL...that was funny...

Games and Children

MY THREE YEAR OLD SON LOVES WHEN I HELP HIM PLAY ONLINE GAMES ON LEGOS.COM OR DISNEY.COM. BUT I REMEBER WHEN I WAS YOUNGER MY MOM NEVER LET ME PLAY VIOLENT GAMES. I DIDN'T START TO PLAY VIOLENT GAMES UNTIL I WAS ALMOST 16. AS A MOTHER NOW, I UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID THAT. MY SON LOVES HIS CARS, BUT I WON'T BUY HIM ANY TOY GUNS. AM I BEING OVERPROTECTIVE. I WON'T EVEN LET HIM WATCH ME PLAY A VIOLENT GAME. I FEEL A LITTLE HYPOCRITICAL, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS. THERE SO MANY OTHER GAMES OUT THERE HE CAN PLAY, UP UNTIL I FEEL HE IS READY TO PLAY MORE ADULT THEMED GAMES. THERE IS A REASON THEY RATE THESE GAME.

MY CUZ EVAN NEARLY WENT CRAZY WHEN RESIDENT EVIL FIRST CAME OUT. HE GOT REALLY SCARED WHEN HE WAS PLAYING IT! I THOUGHT THAT WAS HILARIOUS. AT THAT TIME I WAS IN HIGHSCHOOL, AND HE WAS PROBABLY IN 7TH OR 8TH GRADE. LOL

LETS GET DIRTY!

MUD...AND MOO...WOOHOO!!!!
THANK GOD FOR RICHARD BARTLE FOR HELPING TO BRING US SUCH A CREATION....LOL
What would I do without my Sims games. For real, I have a part time job, full time schedule, and I'm a full time mom, and I still find some me time. It used to be video games were "the devil" according to my mother, but I dont think so...how are video games that much different than sitting down to watch a movie? It can be a hobby for some...whateva.
I bought my son last Christmas his own computer. At three my lil guy is a scholar. It's games, but they help him learn everything from color to numbers. He'll even catch himself in a middle of a mistake and correct himself-now that's funny.

OK-
back to the Sims
The Sims is my hobby when I feel like having fun while I'm sitting on my bum. lol
Things I can do in this game:
-build houses
-create people
-make people talk, fight, have sex, have kids, buy pets, etc.
-get and keep jobs (or get a cheat code and not worry about money)
-furnish their houses, yard, etc.
-etc, etc.

I have Sims on my computer and on my Game Cube.
I was thinking of upgrading to a Wii system, but I like my lil purple GameCube-too bad they dont really make games for it anymore =(

Tag It!

Folksonomies in websites are great for labeling pics and what not. It's a feature that identifies and organizes information. We call it tagging. I for one am fond of it. One of the articles quotes the cofounder of Flickr who says that many people don't use tags. This is true I use other people's tags, but I rarely create them myself. Why is this? Well me...I'm lazy. But I'll be uploading some pics on Flickr and I'll try my hand at it then.
I like this quote, "the job of tags isn't to organize all the world's information into tidy categories," said Stewart Butterfield, one of Flickr's co-founders. "It's to add value to the giant piles of data that are already out there."
It's an extra step and all, but its's a benefit to users.

Bookmarking

I like bookmarking! Whether it's on my computer favorites of on someone else's profile. You can remember why you decided to bookmark the site in the first place. This is a great feature! Especially for me because I am forgetful in regards to remembering urls and website addresses. I even like the name given for the task. When you think about a bookmark you think about marking your place in the middle of a book right? So, marking your place in a site shouldnt be to far from that idea. Ok, yea. IDK what else to say about that.

Piczo.com

I chose this site from the web 2.0 list. It wasnt my first choice, it was actually my third. The first one was karma something, but I looked at that site and decided it was too bland for my tastes. I chose Piczo because I saw celeb faces (Rihanna, Lil Wayne, etc). I thought to myself this was more like it. I created a profile so I could see what the site was really about. It's definitely an international SNS because I clicked on a foreign profile, I think it was UK or something. The main issue I have so far with this site is that it's almost exactly like every other SNS save the fact that it also provides you with your own personal space for a site. That was the part I had trouble with. How do I get text on my page? Am I that slow? Don't answer that...guess I'm still learning. I would really like to see a tutorial email on how to create the site, rather than tiny little options on a page.

15 Million~/2 Billion~

Fifteen million refers to the the number of US student web users at colleges! That's alot. According to the article these sites represnt how we express ourselves. I agree with this little theory though I won't say that is the only way we represent ourselves. The article asks the question, how will students use technology after graduation? In my case, as a writer I will always be in contact with a computer and the internet, but I can only speak for myselves. What about you guys (my fellow students) whose majors aren't English related?
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Two billion refers to the number of dollars spent on web advertising! That's crazy! I've always wondered why our society pays an actor more than a fireman. I know that has nothing to do with anything, but that really sucks. Where does this money come from and how does it circulate?

~YouTube~

I'm familiar with YouTube and all, but I wasnt too interested in it until earlier this year. A friend of mine shoed me a video for an older R&B song that someone had uploaded. Stats say that older people are using YouTube more than the younger generations. It's believable, but I still know alot of kids that are on that site as well as others. Over the years it was no surprise that women and highschool kids are most likely to frequent these sites. All of my female relatives are on either Myspace, Facebook or some other SNS.
I think YouTube is more of an entertainment site though because some of the sites promote music or movies. Really, a variety of different things. In my class last semester we used YouTube as a source to watch a video where this kid from HS was reciting (ever-so-dramatically lol) a famous poem. I had no idea (before that class) to ever look for something educational. I wish I could remeber the poem. I guess you can say that YouTube has a little something for everyone.

What If.....

What if you had your own social network site? What would be your theme(s)?

Would it be like Myspace, Facebook, or BlackPlanet?

I honestly don't think I would want to create a site like either. I'm not knocking them, but I'd come up with something less fun. A poetry site. That's what I like to do, writing. IDK...lol...I just thought of that so I thought I would blog about it just now....I am a really big fan of poetry.com.

Social Networking and Other Technology

Social networking sites has it's pros and cons. It's useful when it comes to keeping in touch. And like the Syracruse case, it proved to be a hindrance. There is a site for the state of IN, that lets you see all the registered sex/abuse offenders in your area. A friend of mine showed me, and I was terrified to see that many faces (alot were young). It's scarry!!! Talk about overprotective. Technology has definitely grown just as we as a society have, but it's getting more and more sofisticated. We just might get left behind because we are already soooo dependent on technology.

Potty Language-Syracruse Case

The article about those freshman girls was crazy. That just goes to show how immature some people can be!!!! I honestly think that their behavior was disrespectful, and uncalled for...I think they deserved their punishment. This is college, not some elementary school yard. We are adults and should act accordingly. Expulsion, I think was too kind..but the sexual comments were ridiculous. If that were me I would have felt degraded. All that for what? It's still a job, and their actions in my opinion was harrassment.

Education & Facebook

I never knew before English 396C that classes could come together via Facebook. I think that was a great idea to incorporate into Facebook. Most young people already spend time on the web, so adding the "group feature" and networking in general has done some good. I have never been on the internet so much as I am now though with this class. The whole idea was based off a student from Harvard wanting to stay up on the Jonses in regards to his classmates. So, it makes sense that education would be a major factor in Facebook.

*Friend Frenzy*

I have some 70 something friends on Myspace. I know most of them (either friends or family), and a select few I don't know. I prefer not to have too many friends because I like to keep in touch, and there's just no way I'm writing a million people back and forth. I use it like an online photo album, planner (birthday reminders), and messaging. It helps-it really does....
But that's my personal preference. I'm not going to knock anyone who has a few friends or those who have many. Though it really does seem to get out of hand sometimes.
My older Facebook account was different. I strictly only accepted actual friends or aqcuaintances from schools I have attended. I dont know why I did that account like that...go figure..lol..

Myspace vs Facebook, duh, duh, duh, dun!

Okay I am a devote Myspace fan!! I just find Myspace to be easier to operate than Facebook. I opened a Facebook account first, but it just didnt click with me. I had my friends and all on there, and I uploaded some pictures. But that was it! After awhile, I stopped logging on, and I couldnt even remember my username or password. But that wasnt the case with Myspace. It was like an awakeneing. All of a sudden, I could play music on my profile, and add games and create graphics! I was hooked. Not to mention, most of my friends and family had profiles. I learned how to tweak my profile from my cousin in VA, and she was only 12 at the time! OK, I know this is off the subject, but on Myspace I found Patrice Rushen! That's the lady who I was named after. I didnt think she would accept my invite (all her friends were famous, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, etc), but she did! I felt so honored.....=)
Anyway, to each his/her own. Maybe soem of you prfer Facebook, and maybe you do because your used to it. Maybe if I would have put a little more elbow into Facebook it would have clicked with me some more. But I find it so much easier to belong to one site than many. Told you I was simple.
I admire the guy from Harvard. He made himself a billionaire in 2006 by creating Facebook.
Man, ..................................................sorry I was just thinking of what I could do with that much money.

Social Media

Social media is dominant on the internet. From Myspace to BlackPlant, these sites are influencing users everywhere. I had to cancel my BlackPlanet account because it offered an IM option, but people kept sending/saying inappropriate suggestions. -On the flip side, they can also do good. My Myspace account lets me keep in touch with all my family and friends who don't live near me. Myspace also lets you approve what you want on your space. =)
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More and more businesses are going online. Pretty soon newspapers are going to go out of business because everyone will be online blogging info. Which means ads on webpages are going to be crazy! Thay already are!!

What the blog?

What's good to talk about?
Food...Oooh, Oooh, Oooh-I know-music...
I like Alicia Keys. I was supposed to go to her concert with my bff, but no dinero.
I also like Usher, but the cd just isnt all that great..='(
I listen to rap. I mean gangsta' rap: Jeezy, and 8Ball & MJG. But it's not for the lyrics-most likely its for the beats. I bump down the street blastin' my music, but I think everyone does that in Gary. Speaking of Gary, Indiana-why was I reading JET mag the other day; when i saw an article about the mayor (Rudy Clay) and Michael Jackson's pappy. They are trying to build a museum to honor the Jacksons! What the he**!!!!!!
We don't need a museum! We need a better education system and we dam* sho need to save money not spend it on stupid shi*....but then again maybe it will bring money. IDK.