Final Post! YAY it's almost SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the ideas that was discussed in the chapter is that the primary tool for our culture to access popular information is through the internet. We do less reading of books and more reading of news articles online. I think most of us, especially those of us that are in this class and those of us who attend a university, can agree that we get news information more often from the Internet than from books or newspapers. That is absolutely the truth for me. I try hard to be sure that unless I have checked a reputable news agencies website that I don’t spread any news. I think the amount of untruths read are much higher when the primary source is the internet but it is totally possible to get as much quality news form the internet as we do from the television or newspapers.

Society's slow adaptation to damages of the Internet

I was researching online to find an Internet crime that interested me that I could write my blog about this week and I found a very sad story. The story that I found doesn’t actually involve any criminal charges because currently there is no legislation written regarding this particular matter. Which is tragic. I read a story about a young lady who committed suicide by hanging herself after a young man started harassing her on myspace. The girl was only 13 years old. It is so heartbreaking.

The problem here is obviously that technology is advancing so quickly that it is impossible to know the negative affects until something like this happens and then there are no laws to protect young girls like the one in this news article. I am sure since the development of this story and because it attracted national news coverage that there are currently laws being written to protect future individuals from enduring this sort of harassment. I think that this sort of thing happens whether myspace is used as the medium or not, middle school and high school girls and boys are brutal and mean and don’t think about how damaging the words that they say can be to others. In my opinion the person involved should have been charged with harassment. I guess I don’t know the particulars of what actual can be qualified as harassment but it seems like this mans words must have been hurtful enough to be considered harassment.

During my reading for this assignment I also came across an article that deals with some technology and new age issues and how the church is dealing with them. So in my top story a young girls in unprotected because our legislative process is slow to develop laws related to technology and in this second story an institution that is associated with being so static and unchanging is modifying it’s practices to deter it’s followers form abusing technology and using drugs.

The Vatican (living leader of Catholic church) recently listed new sins. In the olden days the deadly sins included lust, gluttony, and greed. Now the Catholic Church says pollution, mind-damaging drugs and genetic experiments are on it’s updated thou-shalt-not list. These are obviously not officially written in anyway because the bible that is used by the Catholic Church was written so long ago but the current Pope is putting a modern spin on sin. Being an Agnostic I have my own strong opinions on the subject that I won’t share here but there are some definite positives to religious beliefs and this is one of them. Hopefully devout followers will heed the words of their Pope and make better choices concerning these types of instances that aren’t currently governed by their bible. It is very impressive to me that the Pope is speaking on matters like genetic manipulation and the environment.

appreciation for the internet

I want to dedicate my wildcard post to my appreciation for the internet. For the most part I have taken the internet and its usefulness, efficiency, entertainment value and its use as a research tool, job aid, and venue for classroom discussions for granted. I always knew it was important to me and that it made many aspects of my life easier and more enjoyable but I never really developed my thoughts on exactly how important it is to me and how hard it would be to function without it. Right now I am really sick, I missed class yesterday and today and I’m not sure if I will be able to make it tomorrow. My grade in this class will be completely unaffected. I missed two classes yesterday, one of which a major project was due in, and I missed two classes today, one of which an assignment was due in. I am writing this post in my robe, in bed. Even laying in bed writing this is a task, my eyes hurt and my head hurts and I have blow my nose every five minutes. I will be able to complete this assignment before it is due without leaving my bed. If not for the internet I would be in big trouble right now. Right now I am also searching for an internship. I do almost every bit of searching on the internet. Stylecareers.com, WWD, Fashioncareers.com, I use these websites that have collected and placed in one easy to access website, all of the internships that I have interest in applying for. I am able to apply directly from the website or I can email the companies HR department with my resume and cover letter attached. Most of the time the company is listed in the job heading and I can go to the company’s website and do some research about the company before I apply, I can usually find out where their headquarters are so I can get an idea about where the internship will be. I can research what they value in an employee and customize my cover letter to fit their company. You can imagine how difficult a task that would be without the internet. I get to email all my teachers and let them know how sick I am rather than having to try to find their phone numbers and call them. I have said before that everything I do in my life I do with the internet but its true. I bank online, I buy my plane tickets and book my hotels online, I email my friends, family, and my professors online, I pay my bills online, I look for and apply for jobs online, I get my news and entertainment updates online, I use facebook and myspace to communicate with friends, I use the internet to download music, and listen to satellite radio when I’m not in my car. I love the internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know what I would do without it. Now I’m going to take some Nyquil and sleep the rest of the day away and hopefully wakeup all better!