It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....Part II (Final Paper)

Hello dear followers, once last time! So another semester is almost over and I have yet another paper written. I enjoyed writing this paper since it was on a topic I enjoyed researching. Will our country move into "going green" or will we continue on the path to being a disposable society? Unfortunately, not being much of an optimist at times, I feel as though we will continue on this path of being a throw away country. While looking online at e-waste I couldn't believe the amount of e-waste that sits in developing countries. There are workers in these countries such as Nigeria and Ghana that take this waste and burn it everyday, sending horrific toxins into the air to pollute their cities and townspeople. More regulation on the dumping of e-waste needs to be looked at for fear of future problems to the people of these countries.

I had a great time in Professor Ferguson's class. I really learned a lot when people brought in different technology events that were happening all over the world: from cars that can park themselves, to cell phone trackers and 3D televisions. I especially liked when we all presented our Wikipedia articles to the class; it was nice to see different perspectives from people as to how they perceive Wikipedia. In regards to the books we read for class my two favorites were: "Made To Break" and "The Facebook Effect". It's amusing that we learned about Mark Zuckerberg and he has recently been named by Time Magazine for "Person of the Year, 2010". With all this said I hope to take away a lot of information from this class with me. I will now be much more alert when it comes to new technologies and I will try my best to understand how they will benefit or hurt our society and its future.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....Part I (Final Paper)

Well to some, "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" as in the rush to buy all those holiday gifts, get them wrapped and delivered. For me on the other hand I have to somehow begin to focus on my final paper for my Technology & Culture In America class, and pause the holiday rush. Ok, let's get to it! I have decided after reading both proposed paper topics (thank you Professor Ferguson-I love choices), to focus on Giles Slade's book, "Made To Break". The question at hand is, "With the recent rise of the environmental movement in this country, will America continue on a path of a disposable society described in Slade's work or finally turn to the path of going green?"

I can tell you this dear followers I am not sure the angle that I will take on this. I feel as we are trying to move into the "green revolution" yet on the other hand as we move just a step or inch for that matter closer to going green I hear nothing about us actually doing it. Well as the librarian in me comes out, I must now go ahead and do some research on this topic to support my answer, assuming I have one. Until soon.

Reading Assignment #12 Kirkpatrick's "The Facebook Effect" pg. 215-end

Hello dear followers. So I finally finished the long, exhausting book, "The Facebook Effect". In conclusion, The Facebook Effect, is really a story of delirious success, both financial and world changing. Even for those not so keen on geekery and computers, the political wrangling of the company supplies plenty of drama. I loved the irony when the "newsfeed" was added it allowed users easy access to groups they might want to join, which promptly lead to mass numbers joining anti-newsfeed groups.

Love it or leave it, Facebook has done what Zuckerberg intended it to, it has changed the way we conduct our social relationships and thus changed society itself. Employees, employers and public figures are re-evaluating how they manage their very public profiles on Facebook, with some pundits predicting that rather than people tending towards circumspect and professional Facebook profiles, society will just come to accept that Facebook will reveal certain aspects of our lives that we don't necessarily want public, and not judge too harshly. Even if you don't have a profile yourself, there is no way you can prevent others from posting photos of you, or revealing personal information about yourself (although one might question why said acquaintance is doing so) so perhaps a society that doesn't judge our drunken photos too harshly is more preferable to trying desperately to keep such things from the internet.

My only real criticism of this book is it left me wishing that I had a friend on the verge of creating a billion dollar company who just needed a small amount of investment to get started and that I got to be one of those lucky fools who gave thousands only to have the investment return in the millions.

How the heck did we socialize before Facebook? My God, it must have been a horrible way to live our lives. Can you imagine that a person would have to actual pick up a phone or even worse pick up a pen and write a letter? Now I admit, I have not written a letter by hand in years and years. Let’s face it e-mail has made it easier. How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, build and maintain farms (Farmville) and cafes (Café World), before Facebook?