The Last Blog

...of the semester at least. It hardly feels as if it's been a semester. I remember just yesterday sitting in my Digital Civilization class and thinking "I wonder if I should drop this class..." The class seemed terribly complicated and I wasnt exactly sure what they were saying half of the time, but I kept the class (mainly because I needed honors credit and I didn't want to search for another available class), and it turned out to not be so bad. Don't get me wrong, sometimes (and I do mean more than once) I would be in tears, siting with my computer, with my roommates asking me what was wrong, and I being able to only mumble something to the effect, "...I....don't.....know...what.....to....blog...about...." They didn't understand (or even empathize) with my plight.

Despite being somewhat challenging course, I have learned a great deal and I am very grateful for all the useful information (both historical and digital) that I have acquired these last few months. I have stretched myself in ways I didn't really think possible at the beginning. If you would have asked me to make a prezi presentation that included embedding a youtube video and still shots of my own computer screen using Jing I would have thought you were speaking another language. And that is exactly what it is. I have learned a whole new language in the course of a semester as I have explored new tools and websites and methods of creating and consuming digital literature. It has been quite the journey and I can only help but think where all this information will take me in the future.

It's funny to look back at my older posts and see how I've advanced. This is the link to my first reflective post. At this point I was just touching the tip of the iceberg of learning.

Here is a link of the first prezi I made for our mini book club. It was the worst prezi I think I've ever seen.

Here is  my most recent prezi I made with Jeff Whitlock for our Final Presentation. I think it was lot better.

Student Club 2.0 on Prezi

And now for the Award Ceremony:

Here is the link of the post I am most proud of (and not too mention my most popular blog with a whole 7 comments!)

This post gets the "Nice Try" Award. I still wasn't sure how to post and I was trying to connect to the subject matter and that's what you get.

This post gets the "Waaaaaay too long and boring" award. I learned from my mistake, don't worry.

This post earns the "Most inspirational" award. I was feeling pretty low and who knew reading your homework would help lift you up?

I think the most useful tool I have learned how to use (and I use about once a week still) is JING! As I sit here typing the little yellow "sun" at the stop of my screen just warms my heart. It is just so easy to use and so incredibly useful.

I've had a lot of fun, stress, laughter, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and whole lot of other emotions while taking this class. I hope I continue learning from the principles I have acquired.

Let's Make a Website!

As promised, I shall review the process I went thorough while making the Official BYU Microfinance Club Website. Let us begin!

Right after the website was started

Pretty boring if you ask me, so I started to add stuff (you know like information and photos)

We then had two sidebars and information about what is microfinance as well as the history of it. However, after a few days I thought that was pretty boring, and that information could be turned into a sidebar feature. I then got a story from Jeff who went to Sierra Leone on his mission and met a woman named Baby. So, I decided that it would be more personal if on the homepage of the website there would be a picture of her with her family and her story.

This is the final homepage!

Here are some other pages on the website!

And here is our blog!

Blog, Blog, Website

It's a new game I've created, you know...instead of duck, duck, goose. So it appears as though I haven't been doing much in this class (considering since it's been quite awhile since I have last blogged), well I can assure you I've been hard at work.

I am in the Microfinance group for our final projects, and I have been in charge of our group's website and it has been quite the challenge. We have also started a blog for our group, set up a twitter account, and have been working on a prezi for our final group presentation. It has been a very hectic couple of weeks.

In posts to come I will be explaining in more of a set by step process what exactly I have been doing to contribute, but for now I will give you the links to some of the things I have been doing so you can see for yourself.

This is for the website and for the blog!

Enjoy!

Peer Review Evaluation: Chase McCloskey

I had the opportunity to review Chase's blog (Chasing Knowledge). It was great to review fully someone else's insights to the class and find out what kind of things he had been learning on his own.

Historical Context:
One of the things I really liked about Chase's blog was that he includes a lot of personal stories and applications. For example, when talking about the atomic age, he was able to talk about his recent trip to Hiroshima and share several photos as well as a short video clip. I feel that these topics have more relevance when they include a personal application. Chase is very good at capturing the historical context that we have been learning Many of his posts are about the subject matter. You can tell he has gone out of his way to learn and research more into these topics.

Computing Context and Digital Culture:
Chase seems to be grasping the computing context and  learning many new digital tools. I have learned some new things while reading his blog. His presentation of Wordle was especially fun to read, his Prezi of the book review was nicely put together, and his explanation of fractals (with yet another personal experience) were all very easy to understand and helpful to me as a consumer. He probably could do a bit more in this category to really get more out of the class, but it seems like he is well on his way.

Self-Directed Learning:
Chase seems very interested in the topics learned in class and is doing his best to apply them to his learning. He could definitely start doing a few more digital literacy labs as well as finding more readings outside of the assigned. Overall it appears that he is really enjoying the class and has greatly improved the quality of posts since the beginning f the semester!

Reflection

The past few months I have learned many different things in this class. I'd like to talk about the three different aspects to the class and what I have learned in each aspect.

Historical Context: I absolutely love history. I love learning new things and I love this class especially because it allows me to learn new things in my own way. We are given guided reading to help stimulate the topic, then we are allowed to explore the topic for ourselves, using our own methods (Google search, library, blogs, etc). I have been able to learn a lot more (and focus more on the aspects of each subject that I personally find more interesting). I'm even doing a better job at documenting what I'm reading through diigo.

Computing Concepts and Digital Culture: While I still seem to struggle in this regard, I think I've made bounding leaps of improvement since the beginning months of the semester. I've really begin to embrace the skills I've learned, and it's helped me not only in this class, but in almost all my other classes I've used the concepts I've learned here. For example in my Theater midterm I used Jing to help put my PowerPoint presentation together. I also created a Prezi presentation for my Political Science course. It's been fun to teach these things to my friends and family (they think I'm a lot more tech savvy than they used to). I'm also not afraid to search things out for myself. Before this class I was very closed minded to the technological/digital world. I was afraid to use anything more than Firefox and only searched through Google. However, now I am more willing to try to discover things on my own, and ask other people who know more about these things. It's been exciting to learn new tricks.

Self-Directed Learning: I think this was quite a challenge to me at the beginning of the semester, but I think I have come a long way since then. As I mentioned earlier, I have gotten better at using Diigo to show some of the things I've been researching. It's been very interesting to see how much legitimate information is actually on the internet. I think, especially in high school, teachers and professors are always talking about the evils of using internet information to study, but the more i have searched online for different topics, the more I have found that there is very good and legitimate resources to use. The great hing is that they are free and available to the masses. It's a shame not many people know about it though. I have really enjoyed learning how to discover information on my own, and to read and investigate topics that I find personally interesting. It's very liberating from my other courses I've taken which give specific reading assignments.

I think overall, I have greatly increased my knowledge of western civilization, computer/digital concepts, and self-directed learning. I'm still trying to find ways to better myself, but I think I've come a long way and have learned many important lessons that will help open my understanding to these ideas in the future.

Atomic Comic Book

A comic book distributed to visitors of the Big Rock Point Power Plant in Michigan reveals the ideas behind the age of atomic power. Click the link below for the full slide presentation!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=1971-nuclear-comic-book&photo_id=191D78AF-DD55-BC26-52A5ED3BFB4F9323

Keynesian Economics is Wrong?

There are many different opinions about Keynesian economics. This video talks about the logical fallacy of this theory. He says that it sounds good, but the fact is that in the real world Government can't inject money into the economy without taking money out first. There is no increase (aggregate demand), it is just redistributed. Watch and see what you think.

Solving Unemployment in the U.S.: Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes

Currently in the US we face a large unemployment problem. According to The Huffington Post, 15 million people are out of jobs and nine million more are involuntarily working part time. We see the dissatisfaction in Washington with this issue as Democrats lost majority in the House just a few days ago. Voters don't understand why jobs are so scarce so they vote against those they believe are in power. They did this same thing to the first George Bush in 1992, Clinton and the Democrats in 1994, and also many Republicans who had supported George W. Bush in 2008. They want results, and they don't know how to get the, so they just keep jumping ship from one side to another.

 

So what do economists say would reduce unemployment? We can glean many helpful insights from Adam Smith, father of free market economics. He found that the real problem was not unemployment, but rather monopolies. He therefore aimed to liberate the energies of entrepreneurial people to create wealth. His goal was for British parliament to stand up to government-sponsored monopolies that in the 18th century kept competitors out of many areas and stifled growth. This can be found by reading his famous book The Wealth of Nations (which never mentions the problem of joblessness in any of its pages...).

John Maynard Keynes is the economist who suggested how unemployment could be attacked. Keynes believed in markets as much as Smith did. He recommended that the British government use market prices not rationing to allocate scarce resources as WWII approached. During the Depression, however, the millions of jobless were a crucial political problem. Keynes argued that waiting for private investors to create jobs as conservatives said Smith would have done could lead to the overthrow of Great Britain's free institutions.

Conservatives were arguing in the 1930s, as they still do in 2010, that cutting taxes and reducing government outlays would create jobs in the "long run." Keynes famously responded that "in the long run we are all dead."

The insights of Smith and Keynes are central to today's debate between the parties. Smith is still right that economic progress depends on liberating the energies of entrepreneurs so that they can create wealth. Government has to pump money into competitive markets to get investment going again. That is what stimulus is, and that is what will boost the economy and get people jobs.

Why Freud Was Wrong

So there is actually a book out there entitled Why Freud Was wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis (1995). It, obviously, is a critique of Freud and psychoanalysis. It argues that Freud became some kind of Messiah and that psychoanalysis is really a disguised continuation of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. What does that mean exactly? He basically asserts that Freud was a rather dirty and rejected child who, because of the deep need to repay his parents for being do undesirable, embarked upon a messianic mission to world fame with his own disciples and church to boot. His need for fame and recognition was so urgent that he not only deluded himself and deceived others; he also fell prey to the deceptions and delusion of his deranged seniors and special confidants through projecting onto others his own messianic urges.

Well we now know how Webster feels about the subject. What do you think? Is Freud valid in today's psychological society?

Microfinance

Today I selected to be in the group that is dealing with starting a microfinance group at BYU. To be perfectly honest, I knew little to nothing on the subject, so I thought I would do a little research an enlighten myself. Here's what I found:

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients including consumers and self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. Such services will attempt to help poor people out of poverty.

It's object is "a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers."

The problem is most banks traditionally do not provide financial services (such as loans) to clients with little to no cash income. Therefore, microfinancing allows these people to receive financial help, whereas they would normally not be able to do so.

Due to slow progress in developing quality saving services for poor people, peer-to-peer platforms have developed to expand microlending through individual lenders in the developed world.


Kiva is such an organization, which facilitates about $5M in loans each month. Kiva "empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending."

For our project we will be looking to create a microfinance group at BYU, thus helping connect students to this realm. It seems like an exciting project. I can't wait to learn more!

The Hollow Men

This is a poem by T.S. Eliot and I don't really know why, but I really enjoyed reading it. I read some websites that analyzed the piece. Some said it had to do with post-war Europe and the effects the Treat of Versailles had on the country, others mentioned the difficulty of hope on mankind, and some even mentioned that it has to do with Eliot's own failed marriage. However, what I like about poetry is it is less about what others think and more about what you personally glean from reading the words. Poetry is just so free that you can take away whatever you want, what currently is going on in your own situation, in your own life.

I think it means that if we live our lives without loving, living, and laughing (if we really don't enjoy what we have), we slowly become distant from the world around us. I especially like the ending:

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

I think if we let our passions about life and our interactions with others die down, there will be nothing left to life. No real reason to live (or war for that matter). Then like it says the world won't end in a bang, but more like a pathetic wimper.

Below is the entire poem. Feel free to read and see what you think it means!

The Hollow Men
By: T.S. Eliot

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.


II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer --

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Jing Jing Jing

So I'm kind of slow on the uptake, but I just wanted to express how awesome I think Jing is. I just downloaded it not too long ago (as you can see from my last post), and I can't really remember how I lived without it. It is so easy to use (and that's saying something, because despite the two months I have spent in this class, I still feel technologically impaired). It's just the simplest thing: just capture, save, and insert the image!

It's a great way to share images with others (especially when blogging!). I think this has really increased the accessibility of sharing information. Sharing pictures has always been a problem in my family. My dad lives in Montana so to send pictures I would usually just have to upload them individually and email them or even print them out and send them in the mail. New technology has given us the opportunity to send and share pictures through the internet. It's absolutely amazing to see how technology progresses so rapidly. I'm excited to see what they come up with in years to come!

Sound Cloud

In my last post I uploaded an audio file to my blog. This turned out to be a lot more tricky than I had anticipated. I tried uploading it directly from iTunes, but it wouldn't work. I then found this site, Sound Cloud, which is completely awesome so I will explain how I uploaded it step by step:

1. I imported the CD into my iTunes

2. I then converted the track to an mp3 format. To do that, follow these instructions:

• 1. Edit > Preferences
  2. Under the general tab, select "import settings"
  3. Change type to MP3, and select (192 kbps) for decent quality audio.
  4. Find the song you want to upload in your iTunes library (it must already be in iTunes) and right click it.
  5. Select 'Create MP3 Version'
  6. Wait for it to finish (it will say incomplete next to the title until it was done).
  7. Drag the completed file out of iTunes onto the desktop for convenient use elsewhere.

3. I then went to soundcloud.com and I uploaded the audio file (filling out all necessary details about the clip).Wait for the upload bar to finish.

 4. It will send a confirmation email to your address and from there you can follow the link to the uploaded file.

5. Select share on the upper left corner of the soundcloud editing pane, and copy the embed code.

6. Go back to the blogger edit post screen, and place the cursor where you want to insert the audio clip.

7. Click "Edit HTML" on the upper right of the edit post box, and paste the embed code you copied in step five.

8. Publish Post!

Apostasy Talk

As I was reading M. Russell Ballard's talk, "Using New Media to Support the work of the Church," it discussed the importance that new techonolgy plays in helping the growth of the Church. He always mentioned that all the technology leading up to the life of Joseph Smith aided in the Restoration of the Church and the publication of the Book of Mormon.

While on my mission, I listened to a talk (known as the "Apostasy Talk") by a Hyrum Smith (not Hyrum Smith the brother of Joseph), he address this. He explains how all things from the Apostasy lead up to the Restoration of the Gospel. It is one of the most incredible talks I have ever listened to. I have uploaded the entire talk (which is about 35 minutes). It is totally worth your time. You can listen to it on Sunday after church if you want.

Apostasy Talk by leeannelowry

A World Lit Only by Fire

I totally just learned how to use Prezi, and I must admit, it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I hope you enjoy my book presentation that I made on "A World Lit Only by Fire" By: William Manchester.

A World Lit Only by Fire on Prezi

I taught my FHE group about how to use Prezi. It was pretty funny. They don't really like how it zooms in and out, a lot of them complained that they were getting headaches. I think I like it more than PowerPoint though. There's a lot more freedom to create and I think it's more fun to use. I hope you enjoy. 

Castles in the Air

I was just reading an excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's masterpiece Walden. This is the best quote I have read in quite some time and has come at the most opportune time. It goes as follows:

"I learned this at least, by my experiment; that is one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with unexpected success. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will libe with the licence of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them...."


How incredibly wonderful! As a college student, I often feel that I'm being pushed down, forced to do this and then the next in a mindless act of lists entitles "to do;" however, after reading this, I feel a new sense of energy to follow my dreams, to do those things that I want to do, no matter how far off they are from the beaten path. What courage Thoreau must have had in leaving behind all he knew to start afresh in a small cabin by the lake. What incredible insights we would discover if we did this in our own lives. This is not to say that we should drop what we're doing and live by a pond, but we should shove aside those "worldly" things in our lives, clear our mind, and allow our imagination to think and discover the castles we have...then, do as Thoreau suggests and "put foundations under them..."!

And the Winner is:

The book my "mini-book club" and I have decided to read is:

A World Lit only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age. 

A world Lit Only by Fire deals with the technoligical stagnation that existed in the Middle Ages, and the occurences that jolted Erupoe into the  Renaissance. Manchester covers many aspects of this time period including the rise of humanism in the early days of the Renaissance and its triumph of secularism over piety. It looks like more than your average history book. I'm pretty excited. 

More info to come (after I read the book...)!

So Many Books, So Little Time

Here are a few books/works I'd be interested in reading:


Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
By: John Locke
This is one of Locke's most famous works. This essay talks about the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. He describes the mind as a blank slate (tabla rasa) that becomes filled through time and experience of life. Written during the Renaissance, Locke begins to open the curiosity and the minds of readers as to the inner working our human nature.



War and Peace (1869)
By: Leo Tolstoy
This book depicts the events leading up to Napolean's invasion of Russia and the impact that it had on the Tsarist society at the time, seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families.






U.S. Constitution (1787)
By: James Madison
The US Constituion is the framework for the organization of the United States Government. It is the oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world, and has been used to frame many other democratic nations' constitutions around the world.



Dracula (1897)
By: Bram Stoker
This timeless classic takes place in Transylvania at the castle of Count Dracula. Needing legal advice for a real estate translaction, Jonathan Harker is invited to the Castle where he soon finds himself a prisoner, and begins to peice together the disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life.

Hard Times

Hard Times, written by Charles Dickens in 1854, allows readers to understand the central feel of nineteenth-century England.  This book was written during the Industrial Revolution, in which major cultural and socioeconomic changes were beginning to take place.  I found this to be a very interesting read and would like to suggest some major themes of the novel that help us better understand this Industrial Revolution and changes of this time:


It appears that Hard Times suggests that nineteenth-century England’s overzealous adoption of industrialization was threatening to turn human beings into machines by thwarting the development of their own emotions and imaginations. One of the main characters, Mr. Gradgrind, is evidence of this. Mr. Gradgrind is a wealthy man who has a unique philosophy that centers on rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He teaches this philosophy to his two children, Louisa and Tom, as well as to the school children at a local school he founded.  The mechanizing effects of industrialization are compounded by Mr. Gradgrind’s philosophy of rational self-interest. Mr. Gradgrind believes that human nature can be measured, quantified, and governed entirely by rational rules. However, we learn that this way of thinking presents many dilemmas. 


Towards the end of the play, Louisa, who has had many problems because of her upbringing from her emotionless father, finally breaks down and tells him that he is the reason of her unhappiness all these years. Mr. Gradgrind finally reazlies what he has done, not only to Louisa, but to himself. 


Dickens’s primary goal in Hard Times is to illustrate the dangers of allowing humans to become like machines, suggesting that without compassion and imagination, life would be unbearable. This truly is the case, and it reminds me of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without a sense of purpose and peace that God's plan has for us, life would be unbearable and purposeless. We shouldn't go about our lives as though we are emotionless zombies, but part of life is fulfilling these roles as compassionate brothers, mothers, neighbors, and friends. Just as Nephi states, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25).

Reflection

I have now been in my Digital Civilization class for about a month and it's kind of cool to see how much I've learned. Having recently come home from my mission, I felt very behind in pretty much every aspect of my life, especially in digital understanding. However, since I have been taking this class, I feel like it's my own personal update into the "real world." I have become far more explorative on the internet, as well as other computer applications. I used to just stick with a Google search or a quick scan of Wikipedia, but I have come to realize there is so much out there and it's all very accessible, and (for the most part) very user friendly. I have found this very helpful in my other classes as well as I have needed scholar articles and encyclopedia information. I feel like I still have a long way to go, but little by little I'm understanding more about the digital technology that we have.

Also, I absolutely love history, so learning about ancient civilization is right up my alley. I love how in each class the two topics are connected. I have found it fascinating trying to find ties between the two. I believe this class is making me a more well-rounded person, and more curious as to the information that I can find on the internet. Before this class, I never really trusted sites or information found on the internet, but I have found so many databases, for this class as well as my other classes, that have definitely changed my mind. The world is definitely evolving, and as we evolve with it, we are opened up to more knowledge and are able to discover and grow.

I Love TV

So this morning, while I was getting ready for church, I was listening/watching the Create Channel: it pretty much has everything you ever need to know on one channel. Well, it was talking about Florence and how it was the birthplace of the Renaissance. Florence paved the way for creative thought. It brought together the ideas of God and humanism. Michaelangelo, for example, was one of the these blooming idealists. In one of his greatest works "David", we see the combination of humanism and the importance of the human body as well as the need of God. They explained that his right hand was purposely over-sized and detailed to represent the hand of God in the creation.

So pretty much, this was an awesome episode (click here to see more about it: Episode #203). I also found this interesting website that talked a little more about "David" if you're interested.

And that is why I love TV.

Google Chrome

For the past five or more years I have been using either Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer as my search engine; however, recently I have installed Google Chrome and would like to talk a little bit about the differences I have found while using this search engine as well as the history of Chrome. Enjoy.

Chrome was developed by Google in September of 2008, and as of August 2010 it's the third most popular browser.  In September 2008, Google released a big portion of Chrome's source code, including V8 JavaScript engine, as an open source project entitles Chromium. This enabled other developers the opportuinty to study the underlying source code as well as transport the browser to Mac OS X and Linux.

What I personally like about Chrome is that it's fast! According to Wikipedia, tests proved that Chrome was twice as fast as Firefox 3.0. I can definitely see a difference.  I also like the cleaner look and appearance of Chrome. There isn't a separate bar for a Google search, you can type it into the bar as you would for a URL address. You can also design your own theme (or rather, the look of your Chrome page). It allows you to express your personality in your web browser.

All in all, I have enjoyed using and getting to know Google Chrome and would definitely recommend it to anyone I talk to. Check it out!

Story of an Insomniac

Usually for this blog, I try to come up with entertaining, and at least mildly-witty posts, and something to do with the digital world and/or ancient civilization. Well, I have not developed any kind of creative thought in the recent days, so I thought I would divulge a little bit into the life of an insomniac.

I have a problem sleeping: I can't. It is making my life, well ... not fun. It's getting kind of hard to do life, not to mention school, church, and dating. So I'm tired.

On a slightly more happy note: here is a song for all of you who can empathize with me. Enjoy.

1984

The Protestant Reformation ushered in the idea of original thought; the idea of breaking away from the conformist ideas that were being circulated by the Catholic Church and starting anew. This commercial was broadcast was on January 22, 1984 during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.which symbolizes saving humanity from the "conformity" denoting the 1949 novel by George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Blog Searching

I think many of us in the blogging world have wondered "How can I easily find blogs related to specific topics?" I myself have spent hours trying to search different methods and blogs looking for a specific topic or theme, but often I was left without the information I was really looking for; however, today I learned a more practical and easy method of searching for blogs. Allow me to share what I've learned.

Technorati: go to website
This is a internet search engine site. It indexes millions of blogs and also tagged social media which makes for simple blog searching. Technorati looks at tags that authors have placed on their websites. These tags help categorize search results, with recent results coming first.Technorati rates each blog's "authority", the number of unique blogs linking to the blog over the previous six months.  You can simply type in a topic you would like to search at the top, or can click on the top tabs which classify the most popular blogs into different genres (Technology, Business, Entertainment, etc). It also lists the top blogs on the Web. It's a very simple and easy website to use. 


BlogPulse: go to website
This site is very similar to Technorati. On its main page it breaks down different blogs into lists (top links, key people, top videos, top blog posts, etc). You can also type in whichever topic you are in search of, and it will display the most recently posted blogs that mention (or tag) that subject. 


IceRocket: go to website
This is also another very good site to search for blogs. You can specifically look for blogs, but also can expand your search to look in Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, News, and others. There is also a section of top searches so you can see what other people are looking up. 


Which ever site you use, you will be able to find the information that you're looking for fast. For anyone who is looking to find specific blogging information or topics, these search engines are for you. Good luck and happy blogging!

New Phone - New World

While browsing through Best Buy a few days ago I was looking at the new cell phones and a worker asked me if I was interested in getting a new phone. I told her I was pretty content with the phone I had. She asked what kind of phone I had and I said, "a silver one that flips...?". So I showed it to her, and she laughs (yeah, she definitely didn't win any points in my book).

Here you can see the razzle-dazzle of this legendary phone

Yeah...it even has a camera and can save 50 texts at a time

So, after much deliberation that day, I decided to go talk to the Verizon store and see if I was up for an upgrade (since it had been about three years). Much to everyone's surprise, they told me I qualified for a new phone. My mind has officially been blown. They no longer sell "normal" cell phones. All cell phones--now called "smart phones"--come with internet and a whole lot of ... stuff. So I decide on a phone, the LG Ally.

the upgrade

They started explaining all the different applications (note: they call applications on phones "apps". Why? Apparently it's "cuter"). Can I explain to you the things my new phone can do?

• I can download any song I want...for free
• It has a metal detector
• Google Star Map: I can locate and identify all the stars in the sky
• Light saber mimicking
• Bar code scanner (I can compare prices from everywhere in the area)
• I can check Facebook whenever I want (not to mention Yahoo and YouTube)
• Voice navigation
• Other things I couldn't quite understand

Now, I am currently learning a completely new language. A language that turns out to be more necessary than I thought. Now that I have worked with this phone for a few days, I am coming to find how useful it is. 

On Tuesday we learned about the Renaissance, and the importance and power that language played in this revolution. We learned that there became a deep respect and admiration of language. This admiration opened the door to many opportunities, which in turn opened many minds to new ideas that changed the way the world thought. This is precisely what our world now is doing. As we learn more about the new languages that are available to us (such as new "apps", wiki, iPads, skype, etc), we can open doors, and our minds, to an entirely new world of opportunities. 

Discovery and Exploration

Two and a half weeks ago I came home from serving an LDS mission for my church. I served in San Francisco and San Jose, California. As a missionary I didn't watch TV, movies, or use the internet (except to email my family once a week). Since my time back I have realized how many new technological advances have been made in my absence. I find dificulty using my basic email account, Facebook is changed substantially that I can barely figure out how to change my status, and don't even get me started on the purpose of Twitter.... It's hard for me to even imagine how some people are actually creating these sites and programs. They really are the discoverers and explorers of our day.

I can't help but think of Aristotle, Ptomely, Copernicus, and others who blazed the trail of discovery and exploration of their day. They dared to dream in ways that people of the time couldn't even imagine. Even years after their death, many people still doubted the validity of their original thought. It's incredible to see how the world continues to expand, and how we are continuing in the footsteps of the founding fathers of exploration and discovery. We are really going places where no one could even have imagined us going--especially when it comes to uses of the internet. We truly have been inspired from these pioneers who taught men to dare to dream and discover new worlds...as by doing so, they helped us develop and enlighten our minds.

Now, I just have to figure out how to check my email....

In the Beginning...

...was the word, and the word was on the Web, and the Web was good. Well, this is the beginning of a new era, or rather, a new blog. Typically I think it starts with a little get to know you.

This is me.

I just recently returned from an LDS mission to San Jose, California. There I learned Spanish (among a million other things). I am studying political science with a minor in psychology. I plan on going to law school after I graduate. After that, the plans are a little fuzzy.

I am currently enrolled in Western Civilizations at BYU where I'm going to learn pretty much every technological advancement that I've missed since I've been out of touch with the outside world. This blog will be following the things I learn. I hope you enjoy.