Finding My way

I took some time to decipher what exactly I wanted to do for our FINAL project. My late questions to the professor warranted a _small sense of pride lost, but I need to finish this project. I will finally have a long break to myself, which means I should be working on coding and the final. All jokes aside, I hope to be as productive as possible this coming Thanksgiving Break!

Picture problems

My latest endeavour with Meloni's 24 hour HTML teach yourself book brought me to learning how to create tables. Not only was I impressed with her writing, her easy to explain examples helped out immensely. I was able to take away the idea and basic structure of making a table. I enjoy being able to learn new things and tear down the curtain further. The only problem I faced was getting the pictures to fit the right size. I was picking rather bloated pictures to upload, and they were not resizing. I tried a few tricks to see if they would resize _{(I jumped a few readings to see what I could do)}, but nothing worked. My last, and best way to fix my problem, was to search the exact size of the picture I wanted, along with the description. In turn, I really would like to know how to resize a picture, without having to go through a lot of processes.

Font

We finally wrapped up the book by Cynthia Selfe about Technological Literacy in the Twenty First Century. The book had so much insight and foreshadowing about the new coming century, I could hardly realize that the book was written in the late 90's. This book has great information for teachers that I would consider a good read for many teachers. 

The following book is detailed next. Meloni's hour 6 was as simple as hour 5, yet gave me a lot of knowledge into this new language I am trying to learn. It digs deeper into the font styles we need to integrate when writing in html. We tear the curtain back farther, learning more and more each day. With this knowledge, it opens up the mind to different concepts not originally thought of before.

Technological Advances

The Clinton Administration was rather fascinating. Behind the scandals, controversies, and comical mockings, they actually had a keen eye to the future. Selfe's beginning chapter was over the new wave in digital age. The main focus was on being digitally literate. The Clinton Administration saw that computer's we to become the wave of the future for most English teachers, and brought in a new act called Getting America's Students Ready. This focused on providing technology knowledge to kid's so that they could get a high-tech job in the future. However, Selfe goes on to discuss that maybe all kids are getting the benefits of this special new bill. It is interesting to note that some people of different colors may not be able to benefit from the bill simply because of monetary issues or simply skin tone.
The problem I see with this bill has to do with the fact of it being so widespread, and how they plan to follow this guideline. I know that, myself being raised behind a computer screen, this was no problem at all for me to learn. For some, however, finding the necessary funds to have a computer at home was nearly impossible. The learning curve must have been tremendous, and one would assume that maybe this may have been harder than expected. I know that computer literacy will help connect us in a new way, but I fear that our literacy may be legacy technology in the coming years.

In Regards to the Readings

I have enjoyed the past few weeks of class in English 213, but all this reading has really taken over my life. I find myself repeating the few words I remember from the first day of class, "These first few weeks are HEAVILY front loaded...". I then remember I am not the only one reading these, and decide not to lose sleep over all this reading. However, to save space and time, I will commence my reviews over the readings from the week, mostly on Thursday's readings.
  The first reading I did for the week was over Drucker, and how he described the new face of business. It is an outdated source in my opinion in regards to its content, but it suffices as a good way to see into what we are trying to actually accomplish. I had a few opinions on it, but mostly I agreed with most of what he had to say. With specialization, we can achieve a faster way of getting things done, and in turn, cut down on horizontal management. It sounds a bit off when reading it, but I see how it works. His comparison to an orchestra was the perfect way of understanding exactly what he was trying to convey.
   The second reading was honestly something I could not really comprehend. Possibly because I skimmed it, but I find myself to be honest in this situation. The third reading was Freedman's depiction of a reproductive egg. The reading describes how our past way of thinking needed to change in order for us to see what was going on in the reproductive cycle. The main character was simply redefining the way we think about egg's and sperm and how they work. It was interesting that the reading came off as a feminist piece, but it was rather about a different perception on the subject. The idea shifts from a male dominated perception to a more integrated approach. It was an interesting concept, and it gives us an idea about what's truth within our "old sayings".
   The fourth piece was rather wordy, and kept me wondering when it was going to end. The piece was over rhetoric, and the way people receive it. By receive, I do not mean accept, but rather, as a way of thinking. The text was heavily loaded with some complex words, but for the most part, it had some understandable remarks.

Readings from 8/30-09/01

Finding it hard to believe I have passed another week of college. The days grow shorter, and I find myself unable to keep up with the speed just yet. At any rate, my initial reaction to reading anything is to put something off until the very last minute. I, of course, have a natural inclination to just glance over things and hope for the best considering I know I didn't give it my best. Unfortunately for me, I read every page there was to read in Marshall McLuhan's, "The Medium is the Massage". Captivating, frightening, and yet soothing. Captivating in the pictures and the way the communication was forced. Frightening in a sense of how much foresight one person really had for technology. Soothing in the nature of which the book was written. The book itself just gave me the idea that someone had too much coffee or too much on their mind at one time. I enjoy the spontaneous yet completely organized book.
    The book was understandably a little hard to follow. I caught the major points he was trying to make, but also ran upon some conclusions of my own. The main idea I understood was for us to not fear technology. Technology has bred new ways for us to do things. In respect to older technology, we are simply trying to enhance the capabilities of legacy technology.
         The other idea that I drew up on my own was the idea and the real mainframe behind the internet. It seems as if this book was thrown together. Not in an unorganized fashion, but simply with the idea that it was thrown together. In that respect, the internet throws information at us in full bore, but yet with organization to give you some idea of what you were looking for. The book is simply trying to show the media on paper rather than on a screen. It is a very interesting idea.
     The Meloni stuff I am still working on, but I anticipate learning some new material in the upcoming moments.

Responding to What I've briskly read

In an attempt to naturally satiate my appetite for reading, I glanced over the many articles bestowed upon me for ENG 213. Giving myself the patience to read so much has actually given me a headache, as well as a great hunger to sleep. In retrospect, I should have paid attention years ago when I was told I would read twice as much the older I got. However, my digression is far too impeding as to what I have concluded.

       The First reading assigned was some what of a retort to people who claim that technology is making us dumber. The article states that we as a generation have found new ways to communicate, without the intelligent use of punctuation and proper grammar. However, further articles existing just below the beginning reading stay true to the articles argument of new technology actually making us smarter. More people are writing, making it easier to convey messages among the masses. More people are reading, considering text messaging and other multimedia forms such as Facebook and Twitter. These new multimedia forums make everything too easy.
       The reading really sets the idea that aging technological findings that stuck around with earlier generations are no longer relevant to newer generations. The idea really set forth states that we clearly are trying to teach stubborn, old dogs new tricks. With this new idea of technology taking place of old technology, many who have learned the old way are finding it hard to keep up with the new way. We drive the stakes higher every year, with many finding it hard to keep up, or fearing that they will not be able to if the stakes are raised even higher.

 

I like to think my grandparents think this way when new technology arises. For now, I believe the future is present, and we should bask in what it has to offer.

First Entry

I remember the walls were caving in....
  
My life is by no means ordinary, but by no means difficult. I've lived a life of rather joyous moments, and I've seen a decent amount of tragedies. To say that those tragedies have hindered me is by no means true. I've given myself the courage, and I've seen it scream in fear when I could hardly muster the sight of the coming horror. I see now what i want to do with myself; who I feel I must be, while also keeping true to who I am; and not having the fear get behind my wheel any longer. This blog is an ever long quest to track my ever growing path, as well as to fulfill my English professor's wishes in starting a blog.