Week 9: Current Event, related to technology

Something a bit on the lighter side...

Joseph Tame, a social media producer who declares he is a “tech geek,” wanted to bring firsthand experience of the Tokyo Marathon to those who would enjoy seeing his live streamed video. "When you watch a marathon on TV, it feels a little distant. We really want to immerse people in the experience so they never forget the Tokyo Marathon 2011," he was quoted as saying by Kyung Lah, a reporter for CNN.

Tame was bedecked, along with pink windmills on his helmet, with 10 pounds of transmitting equipment, which included four iPhones and an iPad, allowing over 3,000 people to virtually run the marathon along with him. A British citizen who resides in Tokyo says he's pushing the limits of the medium and commented, "It's citizen broadcasting. Can we take live sports event coverage to the next level?"

The 33 year old completed the marathon in 6 hours and 28 minutes, with one iPhone pointed toward him, while another was pointed at the road ahead. The third phone was a GPS tool so he could be located on the route, and a fourth was for communicating with his media team who would in turn type out tweets. The iPad on his back displayed the returned encouraging comments from followers of this endeavor.

Throughout the race, the runner was plagued with technical difficulties: broken video, drained batteries, and inconsistent audio. Receiving his medal at the end, Tame remained undaunted and high-spirited for the duration, buoyed by friends and followers, but said he would not be doing the stunt again, “Once is enough for this crazy stuff."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/02/27/japan.marathon.man/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/sports/2011/02/27/lah.marathon.man.cnn?hpt=T2

Week 8: Progress

I had a lot of fun with the Google site this week. It has really gotten me excited about HTML again! But it seems every time I go back and take a look at it, I have a little more tweaking or editing to work on! I have enjoyed the sites everyone else has put together also, and have tried to be encouraging on the discussion board :)

I really had a difficult time with the Interview project this week. I don't really think I understand what it is we are supposed to be asking about. The assignment is supposed to show the "depth and breadth" of our understanding, but questions are asked when you don't understand something, right? I know I really enjoyed talking with my co-worker and learning more about GIS, and I look forward to my second interview on Monday. I think I am learning things, I just hope I am portraying it with the questions I've asked.

The Corning YouTube video, "A Day Made with Glass..." that our teacher posted this week was really interesting. My son asked me how soon I thought this could become a reality, in the next 10 years maybe? Gosh, I have no clue, but it's probably sooner than we think... look at the past 10 years. I also found it interesting that over 10,500 people Liked the video but there were over 300 who Disliked it. My son posted the link on his Facebook.

I spent about 10 hours on this class this week, but have a lot to catch up on this coming week along with studying for another test in my business class, and I might be called in for Jury Duty the day I've scheduled my test! Gads. Also, on Tuesday evening during the Elluminate I commented that I was interested in going towards Game Development as a career, but by Friday, that all changed after talking with Mr. Mason at TVCC, and now I'm headed toward becoming a PAX Administrator. I'm kind of excited thinking about a solid 9 months of school in '12-'13 and living dorm life which I have never experienced. I really appreciated his encouragement that age is not a factor in this field, more whether you are teachable and can get along with other people. So, I think I may do good :)

And my last note: Yay Jeff Gordon!! Winner of NASCAR's Subway Fresh Fit 500 this afternoon (Sunday the 27th) in Phoenix after a 66 week winless streak which has been the longest in his career. Go Jeffie!!

Week 8: Said Boston Rob

"Let it be a lesson to ya... government jobs... stressful!"

Week 8: Pretty Kitty

Just thought I'd pop in a picture of my cat here. Her name is Tirzah. She is about 3 years old and very loving. I almost lost her about a year ago when she ate a cat food bag string. She was hiding from us and had stopped eating or drinking. I took her to the vet, had her hydrated and they gave her a heavy dose of hairball medicine even though they couldn't feel any real obstruction. About a day later she passed the string and she's been fine ever since, but I have to keep watch for rubber bands and strings around the house now.

When I was younger, I knew when I had a family that I would probably end up with a mess of pets (they seem to follow children home) and it turned out to be true for me. We've had lots of fish and a guinea pig a while back, but the most we ever had at one time was: 3 cats, 2 dogs, a ferret and a turkey! Life is funny, isn't it?

Week 8: Current Event, related to technology

Is the Internet Being Held Hostage from the People?


In a February 22nd report on CNN.com, Libya is purported to be the latest country to crackdown on the services of the internet because of the role the web might be playing in the democratic protests that are currently plaguing the country. The electricity is working, cell phones are still functioning, but the internet has been down for several days. Although the outage could be traffic overload or simple power failures, the possibility of a concerted government effort could also be the reason.

Libya would not be the first country to institute restrictions on public access to engage with the outside voices of the world. Internet access restriction has been used by various rigid governments as a way to continue their hold of power. Iran has been known to limit capacity to overload the system to a standstill. Syria, China and Russia are known to use the internet as a way to monitor citizens and have filtered some websites. Egypt completely shut down internet access to its nearly 20 million users for 5 days during the recent protests to remove a 30-year government leader.

It is unclear just how much social networking, email and blogs may be affecting the anti-government protest efforts since only about 6% of Libya’s population is on the internet. The Al-Jazeera news network is reporting that Facebook was used to coordinate the first protests in Libya and that one Facebook group that was calling for a “Day of Anger” grew from 4,400 to 9,600 members in just two days.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/22/libya.internet/index.html?hpt=T1

Post Script

For anyone interested in more information, the following day an article came out on CNN.com interviewing Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Yes, the internet may initiate democracy as we have seen recently in the Middle East and Northern Africa, but, as this article asks, “what about instances when the internet actually prevents democracy from coming about -- when dictators use social media to track the populace, plant pro-government bloggers and online activists and, in short, increase their own power?” It is a thought provoking piece.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/22/authoritarian.internet.morozov/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Week 8: Absolutely Scrumptious

A gal brought these into work and they were way too wonderful! She said they were easy to make. I haven't made them yet myself, but next time I need to bring something... this is going to be what I bring because who doesn't LOVE cookie dough? :)

Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate morsels
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 pounds chocolate bark candy coating, melted

Directions
In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add chocolate morsels and pecans, mixing well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper; chill 2 hours.

*Cook's Note: Since the dough is sticky, roll your fingers into flour. This will make it easier to roll.

Melt chocolate bark candy coating in a double boiler. Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Place on waxed paper and chill to set. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Hope you enjoy :)

Week 7: This Week

Power Point was really fun this week! There is so much you can do, and I learned so many more parts of it... I just need to remember where everything is located! A lot of classes will accept a Power Point Presentation instead of a written paper for a project, so I hope to use this knowledge wherever possible in the future. I used Power Point for a report on Childhood Obesity in my health class about two years ago and it was very basic, but I got a good grade. Hopefully with all the bells and whistles I will be able to make even better presentations.

I really enjoyed expanding our websites. It was so great to get back into the creating groove with the hard-coding. I think some things have changed or grown in HTML since a decade ago (egads! has it been that long!?) and I can't wait to do more on a business website I have decided to create.

Outlook was fairly easy, and even though I use Outlook Express all the time, I learned a few more things about it.

The most difficult project for me this week was the current event. I have been following Julian Assange and what has been going on with Wikileaks for a few months and questioning the power over technology Mr. Assange seems to allude to have. It's not a synopsis at all... I much more loquacious than that, so it turned out to be more of an opinion essay.... hope I don't get marked down for that because I did a lot of research for what I wrote. Anyway, that took me a lot of time because I had so much information and I was having difficulty with the right words coming to me.

All in all, I probably spent about 15 to 19 hours on the work this week, only because I am fairly slow at things sometimes, and wanted to get my words and my web page just right :)

We got snow again this week, but I want everyone to know that summer is bound to come sooner or later, so here's a "little cup of Florida Sunshine" a co-worker brought back to us from vacation...