DeVoss and Porter carve out Napster…

So, for our class WEC, we are reading a very interesting article by DeVoss and Porter that states much of the obvious.
I’m sure we will have a class discussion, but wanted to pose this scenario: (This has happened to me…) Is it wrong to go to a library, legally check out a free book, read it and really enjoy it, tell a friend, who doesn’t have a library card, so they borrow your copy and read it before its due?
What about CD’s- how many times have you borrowed(and copied) a friend’s CD that you liked instead of purchasing it.
It’s all about the dollar, folks. That’s why the record labels care.

The Casualities of Mandated State Testing

So…Here it is- the week many NJ middle schools have been dreading- NJ ASK- aka the New Jersey assessment of skills and knowledge! What a whirlwind of testing- two days of Language Arts, one long day of math, and a day of science…Why there’s no history on this test is anyone’s guess..

My complaints:

1. Butt hurts from sitting so much

2. Boring for proctor

3. No bathroom break unless you get lucky

4. Arms tired form carrying heavy bin of test booklets, etc. to and from main office each day (and we are only on day two, folks!)

5. Tired of student complaints regarding the test, and the “down” time we have afterward

6. What exactly is this test measuring anyway??

Okay, enough complaining – for now:-)

But I will end on this note: when will these tests be exclusively on a computer?

Excuse me if I smell tonight…

nah, actually I’m going to grab a shower because our 8th graders (and teachers) took a tour of the CCMUA…What an experience! It really was quite interesting to see what exactly happens after you flush. Well, to sum it up- the soiled water travels through our sewers etc. and makes it way (with some helpful force) to the treatment plant in Camden. Once there, bacterium does its work to eat up some of the bad composite, all the while gravity also helps certain sediment to settle…Next, water is moved throughout a series of chambers, most of which are  outdoors- swishing and moving about, again more bacteria taking aim at the stuff left in the water. I believe some chemicals are also added ( bleach) and then the water is returned to the Delaware River.

 

It was quite smelly,  but, in my opinion totally worth it.

Microsoft’s XP is 86′d…

Word on the street (and CNN.com) is that Microsoft is going to discontinue Windows XP in favor of the operating system Vista. I know this

operating system

well, as this is what I used on my home pc for the past five years, and loved it. I recently bought a new laptop, a light and thin Toshiba notebook, which came automatically prepped with Windows Vista. Although Vista has caused some problems for me (think trying to connect to the VPN for Rowan U.- just not happening) I don’t think it is as bad as many are making it out to be. With everything there is a learning curve, and the more you use it, the better accustomed you will be. I feel like anytime a new piece of technology comes out people are scared to learn something new- not thinking of the advacnes, etc. that may come out of the software.

Thanks for comments to “uninspired”

I guess I just needed a break away from the blog- that’s the thing about blogging for my gradaute class- I can’t just write when I feel like it…I must write every week. Well, taking the short break helped!

Now, I’m going to read and commnet on some other blogs!

Thanks for all the ideas and support fellow bloggers!

feeling uninspired?

if so, then we are in the same boat. i have logged in to my blog multiple times over the past week. each time i have encountered a massive case of writers block. perhaps it is sensory overload. being off all week, i engorged myself with cnn and the likes of it. tearing up at this story, laughing at another, and still no juice.

does anyone have suggestions?

Response to youtube’s The Machine is US/Using Us

This was a very cool and very relevant video to our graduate course, Writing for Electronic Communities. First of all, it is interesting to see a bit of how HTML started, and just what some of those commands mean, dammit. But also, it was all about the linkage. The web is using us to interface and reach more in order to help dominate more and more of our planet!

why i heart youtube

The movie, The Crow, featuring the late Brandon Lee, is one of my top three favorite movies ever. I found this really cool behind the scenes footage from the making of the movie on youtube.

TNR

Trap-Neuter-Release.

I am in the process of trapping feral cats in my neighborhood, paying out of pocket to have them spayed/neutered, care for them and then release them into their wild home. In my opinion, it is better to see them out in the wild to run free, and get a meal from me, then to know they would be locked in a tiny cage, ignored, not adopted, until the shelter’s funds get cut and they are put down.

Ally Cat Allies (a TNR supporter) won a victory in this field today. They have managed to gain protection for the feral cats living in Cape May, that would be threatened by the new laws protecting a bird down there. Their website has plenty of information http://www.alleycat.org/

ps- the picture is one of a “friendly” stray I fed and took care of in my neighborhood. I eventually found him (Johnny) a home on a farm, thanks to Furrever Friends..He passes away in 2006, RIP. I miss you and your snuggles;)

Response to “We Are the Web”

We are the web? We are the world? For my grad. class, we are assigned a reading each week. I actually feel as though I’ve been disconnected from the past two weeks worth of readings. This week was different- I could relate!

Most of the readings were pretty good, but Wired’s piece “We Are the Web” was a fascinating take on the evolution of technology via the scope of the Web. I was one of those people in the mid to late 1990’s frowning upon the computer for more than typing a paper. To think of buying something online, trusting an e-merchant was unfathomable…

Then, I met my then boyfriend(now husband) who was totally down with computers. He showed me all of the possibilities that “being online” could have for me, such as online banking, searches, e-commerce etc.

Back to the article though, as I was digressing…I found the line “…every document in the world should be a footnote to some other document…” to be very thinkable. I mean, could this be true? And if so, why wasn’t Shakespeare’s predecessor discussed as part of my Shakespeare class??(2 of them at Rowan)

What are we teaching children if we adopt this in use it in daily writings on the web, or elsewhere? Is stealing someone else’s main idea, then adding your own views in there okay???

I think we all know the answers here, but the article makes a point of showing the development (and evolution, lol) of the web, mostly through the idea that ideas should be linked to SOMETHING…..

The idea of changing passive consumers into active trollers on the web was made easy through fun stuff, free music downloads, explicit images that some might want to view, as well as a multitude of other options. People were gaining more freedom with the growth and development of the Web. The importance of usability gained a foothold with emerging websites- not by the developers, but rather by the consumers. Again, a look at how much Web- infused power we all have at our fingertips…

More later. Happy web surfing;)