OMG, shoes!

“We have to write BLOGS for this? Wow…I might drop this class…” I will admit, that those were my thoughts when I first added this class. But I have to say, although at first I thought blogging was the dumbest sounding thing in the world, I’ve actually come to like it.

“Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most early blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media” (Wikipedia 2007). In this class, we’ve been blogging about the internet. At first, I thought that maybe that was the only thing that people were blogging about. But, as Wikipedia stated, people use blogs for online diaries and many other things.

For example, my boyfriend brews his own beer. Lately, he has been on two websites one for “beer blogging” and another one is a “beer forum.” I thought he was a biggest loser in the world to be on a beer forum. But, once I tried his beer and learned that he got the tips to make a good beer from other beer lovers all over the world, I thought that was pretty cool. Think about it, there is a website that all the guys who are like my boyfriend, who like to spend their weekends over a big hot pot boiling water, adding yeast, adding hops, flavored malts, letting it ferment, bottling, cooling, yadda, yadda, yadda. They can compare their beers, ask questions to each other, and post whatever they want about what they all love. Beer.

I was curious, what other kind of blogs were out there? I’m a girl who has a huge passion for cute, colorful, funky shoes. Not that I have the money to go out and buy them all the time, or make my own shoes like my boyfriend makes his own beer. But I do enjoy looking at them, pretending I have them, and learning about different brands and styles. So what did I do? I typed “Shoe blog” into google and low and behold, shoeblog.com! I clicked the link, and spent over 45 minutes (blah! With so much work to do!) reading the blogs about shoes, shoes, shoes, oh my God, shoes. “Share your shoe obsession! Join the number one shoe forum Community Today!” (shoeblog.com)

Blogs fascinate me now. I think that it is so cool that people who share an interest in something, whether it be beer, shoes, the internet, or whatever; can post, discuss, ask questions, and read about what they’re interested in. I’m considering joining the shoe blog since this class is pretty much over, and the weekly internet blogs will be no more. Here I go, joining the number one shoe forum community…shoeblog.com!!



Blog. (2007, April 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:19, April 26, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=125465683

Shoe Blog (2007, April 26). Retrieved 20:18, April 26, 2007, from www.shoeblog.com

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

When starting this blog assignment, I didn’t really know the definition of ‘net neutrality,’ and it turns out that it’s hard to find a ‘right’ definition. According to Wikipedia, “Network neutrality (equivalently "net neutrality", "internet neutrality" or "NN") refers to a principle applied to residential broadband networks, and potentially to all broadband networks. Precise definitions vary, but a broadband network free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment attached and the modes of communication allowed would be considered neutral by most advocates, provided it met additional tests relating to the degradation of various communication streams by others. Arguably, no network is completely neutral, hence neutrality represents for some an ideal condition toward which networks and their operators may strive” (Wikipedia 2007).

After doing a lot of reading on the topic, I learned about the debate over network neutrality. The people who are AGAINST network neutrality want there to be fees for big websites. They want to control the content and make money from the big websites. They would control how fast transactions would occur. If this side of the debate won, there would be a regulation on internet content and there is a chance the people would not be allowed to see what they would want to see. Companies like AT&T and Verizon are on this side of the debate because they want to make money. The people FOR network neutrality like the internet the way it is with no fees. Smaller budgeted websites are on this side because they don’t have enough money to pay the kind of fees big companies want to impose. Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft are on this side because they are fine as it is. “Popular online content providers like Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and others would like to maintain the current status quo, which they claim would preserve the egalitarian philosophy on which the Internet was founded” (Hsing Et Al). They are making so much money that they don’t want to have to pay a fee to be able to do what they’ve been doing for years.

I support network neutrality because I think that if there were a regulation on the Internet, that big websites had to pay then the whole Internet would turn out a little bit “big brother” like. Why should our Internet access be controlled after so many years of it flourishing on it’s own? Why should little companies with small websites have to pay a large fee with money that they don’t have? Why should the companies that are making so much money on their own, all of a sudden have to pay a fee for their success? Small companies wouldn’t be able to have websites and because of that they could never get off the ground. I think that with network neutrality the Internet is a place where we can do what we like, for whatever purpose and not worry about money. If I feel like making a search engine website right now, I could even though I’d have tough competition with companies such as Google. But if there wasn’t network neutrality and the other side won, I wouldn’t be able to make my search engine website because I wouldn’t be able to afford the fee of making the website in the first place.

So, my opinion is that we should just leave things as they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.


Network neutrality. (2007, April 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:55, April 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_neutrality&oldid=122005930

Hsing Kenneth Cheng* Subhajyoti Bandyopadhyay and Hong Guo. "The Debate on Net Neutrality: A Policy Perspective." Department of Decision and Information Sciences. Warrington College of Business Administration.

Lolalou Tripsa.

Lolalou Tripsa. That is the name I chose, don’t ask me why, for my Second Life avatar. The experience as a whole was mind-boggling to me, that someone created such a place where you make up a character and can talk to another character, interact and make friends and enemies all behind your computer screen. Originally, I wanted my first name to be the name of my avatar, but it was taken with the last name Tripsa. I even tried to spell my name wrong, but apparently I wasn’t the first to think of that either. It made me wonder how many people actually have Second Life accounts. "Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007.[4][5] Developed by Linden Lab, a downloadable client program enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another" (Wikipedia 2007).

Lolalou is a simple girl with a city-chick style. There weren’t many characters to chose from at first, but I later learned that once you begin “playing,” clothing and such could change. The first thing I had to do in the orientation was to get a torch, and I had to find it in the program. I thought it was pretty cool how there was guidance on what to do, and any question could be answered by clicking the top of the screen. The creative skills that were put into this game made me wonder what the whole purpose was in the first place. Was it created as a place to make online friends with a new identity? Do people chat and IM their online friends as themselves or as their computer self? I think it is a cool idea to play with once in a while, to fly around the computer generated world, but I also think that if someone were on this all the time, like an addict, It could get a little weird. The Second Life website states that it can be learned to educate. “Second Life provides an opportunity to use simulation in a safe environment to enhance experiential learning, allowing individuals to practice skills, try new ideas, and learn from their mistakes. The ability to prepare for similar real-world experiences by using Second Life as a simulation has unlimited potential” (Second Life 2007). Learn from mistakes in a virtual world with a made up identity? I, personally, think that for some it may work, but definitely not for me.

The game reminded me of The Sims, a game which my little sister used to play a few years ago. You got to design your own house, cheat on your husband, get pregnant, change your clothes by spinning around, and light your house on fire. It was a little ridiculous, and I’m sure that Second Life could get crazier than that considering it is an online community. I’m sure there are many people who live through the life of their created avatar. Those people who are on it first thing in the morning, and it was the last thing they did before they went to sleep. That’s fine, but personally I would like to learn from my mistakes in real life, not behind my computer screen.

Second Life. 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2007. http://secondlife.com/education

Second Life. (2007, April 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:19, April 6, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=120611436