Dear Aunt Mary Assignment

From: pinkdinosaur@yahoo.com

To: AuntMary@hotmail.com

Hi Aunt Mary!

I'm so glad you consider me smart enough to ask me these questions!

I would like to start out by saying there is no such thing as “MyFace.” The two most popular online social networking sites are MySpace and Facebook. These sites allow you to stay connected with your friends and meet new people. There are opportunities to join groups where people have similar interests as you.

If I have not already given you a headache, I would like to tell you more about Myspace and Facebook. Both sites allow you to upload pictures and files. You can post comments on your friend’s pages and send them private messages. There are also applications on the site to post blogs! Now you can post your LONG stories and complaints of your dogs and how they crap around the house instead of telling us on the phone about it!!!

My friends use both Myspace and Facebook to stay connected with each other. MySpace gives you more freedom because you can have songs and videos on your page and edit the background. This site was originally created as a way for bands to showcase their music. You can look at other people’s pages without their consent unless they have made their profile private.

I used to have a MySpace account but lost interest due to the high rate of obsessiveness of the students in my former high school.

Facebook is directed towards mature people. It was originally created for college students but has become of use by younger/older people as well. You can share pictures and have an ease at communicating with your friends since there are limited options. Also, Facebook has more privacy because people can’t view your information or pictures unless they are added as a friend. There are Facebook groups you can join that pertain to certain topics and you might find some of interest!

If you are interested in connecting with other people or finding a new pastime, I suggest you join Facebook. I have an account there and have found the site to be easier and more private than MySpace. I’m sure you can reconnect with relatives or old friends. Please be cautious of people who add you as friends. Not everyone is who they say they are!

If you decide to join Facebook or MySpace and need further help, email me back!

Just a side note: I am a very busy college student so if you ever add me as a friend…and I don’t add you back…don’t think I’m ignoring you because I have lots of things on my account I don’t want you to see...

With much love,

Shahnaz Khan

Main Concerns and Influence of the Television

The rules governing television in my home are straightforward and simple. If you are a child, you are restricted to watching cartoons. You need permission if you want to watch any PG-7 movies that are not animated. Homework must be completed first and the television then must go off at 11pm. If you are a teen, you can watch Disney and Nickelodeon shows, including game shows. Adult Swim on Cartoon Network was completely off limits. An adult could watch anything, as long as the content didn’t harbor explicit behavior or profanity. WWF wrestling was definitely banned for everyone unless you were an adult.

I followed these rules most of my life. Of course, there were times when I landed on MTV or a movie channel when my parents weren’t around. Cartoons and shows such as The Simpsons, Bugs Bunny, and Full House were considered entertaining and sometimes educational. Reality TV, South Park, and Family Guy were considered inappropriate and annoying. CNN news, the Weather Channel, and the Discovery Channel was for everyone in our household because it was seen as informative. My parents viewed television as a tool that could “keep the kids busy.” At the same time, they had real concerns.

As a young adult, I have to agree with most of the restrictions my parents have set on television. In Family Guy, the one year old baby is constantly trying to kill his mother and uses profanity and weapons. The sexual topics make me wonder why Cartoon Network, a program channel for young children, let Adult Swim on there in the first place. Were ratings and profit more important than the influence young children might be receiving?

I believe shows like Family Guy have people worrying about different things in relation to television. Is it really necessary to have such profanity and explicit content in television shows? There may be TV ratings implemented but not every parent can hover over the television. With busy lives, parents worry that their kids can easily change channels and be exposed to information they shouldn’t.

People worry that children will be influenced by the violence from the TV and feel pressured to be as cool as the characters they see. Parents worry their teens will be pressured to engage in sexual behavior and would want to look like the characters they see in order to “fit in” at school. Others worry a majority of people have given up their active lifestyles and watch TV most of the time. In the end, this brings an overall concern to the impact of TV on our people.

In the coming years, I believe the worries of influence and impact will only grow stronger. With new television shows like Gossip Girl and 90210…and with unsupervised children staying up late night watching Family Guy and Robot Chicken, I honestly don’t think this issue will go away any time soon. My friends argue these shows expose the truth in our society, but I believe it just creates damage to the minds of innocent people.

Discussion/History and Wikipedia

Through my patient surfing of the Wikipedia Discussion tab, I have learned three things. In Wikipedia, people write in new information or ideas about the person and post it in the Discussion tab if they do not know how to post. People can request information on certain topics or they can simply fuel a controversy.

With my mind still on the 2008 campaign trail and election, I decided to research Senator Hilary Clinton. The surface of her page is smooth and clean. There is a living biography including important facts and dates. There is also information about her campaign this year. When I hit the Discussion tab, I was surprised to find many controversies in the Discussion page. According to the article, the Whitewater scandal took place while Clinton was in office. Some people were arguing that the text should better state her side of the story while others were saying there should be a piece of text saying her husband was at fault. Somebody made a comment suggesting the article was biased. The person wrote, “it seems as if Clinton could have wrote the text herself.” Also, there is a request made to add a couple sentences to her biography about a speech where she mentioned Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clinton’s Wikipedia page has come a long way. I was shocked to find a long history of edits (500 pages to be exact). Such a smooth surface…yet the history was so rocky. Her biography is the longest I have ever come across. In some way, this makes her look good because it seems as if she has done a lot in her life.

Since the article covers the latest information in her life, I’m guessing it’s up to date. I don’t know much about her history, therefore I cannot suggest any changes. There are pictures on the page and I think those should stay there. They provide visual representations of the text. Reading the discussions on the article, including other random articles I have surfed through, I feel as if my views on reliability are still the same. I don’t trust Wikipedia because it is truly an open source encyclopedia. The Clinton page is not locked due to vandalism, which means there is cooperation amongst the contributors. The content in the article seems to be appropriate but I still wouldn’t trust it for a research assignment.

The World is Flat 3.0

I went into iTunes to hear The World is Flat 3.0 by Thomas Friedman with sheer dread. I figured 48.20 minutes of my time would be an absolute bore.

I was seriously wrong.

Right off the bat I was surprised he won the Pulitzer prize three times and wrote an accidental book called The World is Flat 3.0 He came to believe the global playing field was being flattened and Americans weren’t ready for what was coming.

The core thesis of his book contained three distinct eras:
Globalization 1.0 Year 1492 - early 1900’s
Size large – Size medium
People went global through their countries.

Globalization 2.0 Year 1800 - 2000
Size medium- size small
People went global through companies for market/labor

Globalization 3.0 Year 2000 – present
Size small – tiny
Not by countries or companies….its built around individuals
Really exciting and terrifying

All this moved to a point where people could collaborate as individuals. The personal computer allowed individuals to create their own content in digital form. In August 1995 Netscape went public. The browser literally brought the internet to life and the .com bubble began to become really useful. There was an overinvestment of 1 trillion dollars into fiber optic cable, which wired the world without anybody having planned it. Computers were connected together through invented capabilities.

Countries and cities literally became next door neighbors. There was a platform where Friedman says, “world is flat.” This platform allowed just about anybody the ability to communicate. People had the ability to obtain information online and distribute amongst others.

“Whatever can be done, will be done,” was a very interesting quote by Friedman. Creativity and communication will be done because it can be done. This is very true in our current society. Many people pursue anything that has a will to be done.

Downloading and uploading became immensely popular. Iraqi soldiers used blogging to update real time stories of what was happening overseas. Random people uploaded created videos onto YouTube. Individuals created their own encyclopedia through Wikipedia.

Friedman also said, “Inspiration and innovation comes from having two or more specialties, with both frameworks supporting each other.” I found this point to be interesting as well. When you have two talents and you bring them together, the end product has the potential for success.

Friedman includes “Green revolution we’re having…is a complete fraud. Global economy is like a monster truck with the gas pedal stuck and we have lost the key. The only way to catch the truck is with a disruptive breakthrough.” He mentions the leaders need to be changed, not just the light bulbs. The leaders prompt these innovations and they also write the rules. In his new book he is trying to reshape how we think about this global economic problem. Economic, capitalistic, and patriotic are some of the new names he wants created for this revolution, considering the name “green,’ was first created by opponents. He ends his lecture by saying “green is new red, white, and blue”

Friedman had me interested in his lecture through the interesting quotes he made and his little part about the green revolution. I used to think changing light bulbs was a way to solve problems, but with this upcoming election, the economy needs a proper leader that can write the right rules. I am eager for the arrival of his new book and doubt I will face any anxiety before listening to his future lectures.