Hw# 21 Big Sister To the Rescue!!

Dear Little Sis,
I know this chapter is very hard to understand, because of its strong use of language. I am hear to help you understand better what has happened in the first chapter of the book called “A Room of One’s Own” which is written by Virginia Woolf. This chapter starts off by introducing the main character of this book that is named Mary Beton, she is staying in a hotel near the Cambridge University. She talks about the library at the local college and how a women is not able to go in without a man by her side or if she doesn’t have a letter from the dean. During the whole first chapter she talks about the downside of women and what they have to deal with, with not being educated. She also talks about how if their mothers had left their daughters money and land then the women of today would be better off. She is on her way to a luncheon but she is earlier so she spends her time enjoying the fantastic view of the chapel. She describes the amazing food that she eats at lunch. She also discusses the poetry of Christina Rossetti and how beautiful it is. Through out the whole chapter she discusses the fact that women are valued less. I think this means that during the rest of the book their will be a struggle for value and approval of Mary and women in general. I think your teacher would consider this book important because it will allow you to see what differences women had to deal with back in the time period of this book. This will allow you to get a personal view of a women’s struggle to develop a educated mind in the world of men. I really enjoyed this chapter and I feel that I will enjoy this book. It was kind of hard to get into in the beginning but once a couple pages went by I found it very interesting. Hope of was helpful with any confusions you had with this chapter. If there are any more question feel free to email me.
Sincerely,
Your Big Sister

HW#19 The Web Of Influence

The paragraph that I chose from the chapter “Web of Influence” is on the bottom of page 91. It is the last paragraph on the page and it continues onto the next page. This part of the chapter shows that blogs are much easier to fix and correct over and over. For example, it states that journalism has spun out of control because they are unable to maintain the truth up to date. The blogs on the internet, allow a person to add more onto and correct something if they misinterpret what they heard or read. In other words, the media and journalists today are unable to maintain the constant changing factors that effect everyday news. They are unable to keep an up to date evaluation of the new information coming into the media world. It states in the paragraph that bloggers “Have become so adept at fact-checking the media that they’ve spawned many other high-profile retractions and corrections.” They have the ability and the resources to check and recheck their information. They are able to produce a very up to date and informative post. My conclusion, then, is that blogs are easier to be trusted because they have more resources to back up what they are stating.

HW#17b Making the Vote!

I think the Daily Kos blog would be more influential than the Wonkette blog. I think this is true because it lends support and information. It is also against the war in Iraq, so the views will be biased to one side. I am against the war in Iraq so this site would help me to figure out which candidate would be in my best interests. They would be on my side, so their views would be easy to understand and relate to. Another thing that is helpful is stated in the following quote:
“The most important thing in political campaigns is to strengthen your connection to the activist base and then mobilize them.”
You are able to find many of today’s activists on blogs such as Daily Kos. They allow you to connect and figure out what your views are. Unlike the Wonkette blog which is more of a gossip/ making fun of politicians. It is aimed at “deflating the egos of Washington’s brotherhood of babbling politicians and journalists.” These two blogs will help you in two different ways. I find that the Daily Kos will help me to make my decision when I go to make my vote.

HW# 18 Barbies and Credit Cards For Girls

The blog that I chose to critic is Jezabel. The post that was my least favorite post was titled Priceless: Have you seen the New Barbie Toy, fashion.. This post is located on the website: http://consumerist.com/consumer/indoctrination/barbie-teaches-credit-cards-101-you-never-run-out-of-money-308326.php . This article talks about the new Barbie toy that features “a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls.” This is just outrageous. I think it is just ridiculous what the media and today’s companies are producing. This little toy will get girls to think that it is okay and fun to spend money on the credit card. The post also states that the outfits that the girls can buy with their credit card are very expensive, like 100 to 300 dollars. Also stated in the article is that once the card’s balance hits zero, it resets itself. This allows the children to continue to keep shopping. This doesn’t allow a realistic attitude for the children, and then when they get older they will think that their card will just reset itself. I disagree with this new toy and it being given to little girls. I believe it will cause multiple problems with the children able to balance their credit card in the future.

Hw # 16 The Five Pilliars of Conversational Software!

The five Pillars were developed by Scoble. He says "these are the five things that made blogging hot." The Five pillars of conversational Software go as follows: First is the "ease of publishing. This means that it is very simple and affordable to have your own blog and to explore other blogs. Secondly there is "discoverability", in simpler terms this means that it is easy to be discovered and discover other blogs. This enables you to be seem for what your interested in or your views on a certain topic. Thirdly there is the "cross-site conversation." This comes from the comments that are giving back and forth from different bloggers. The bloggers are able to communicate without even seeing each other. Anyone can post anything on any one's blog. The fourth pillar is "permalinking." This allows you to link straight to a certain post. The fifth and final pillar is "syndiction." The last pillar is also located in the last "S" of RSS. These five pillars are very important to the increasingly popular blogging community.

HW#17 Mum's the Word: Are Childless Women Hostile to Working Moms?

I chose the Jezabel blog to report on today. The post I chose is titled Mum’s the Word: Are Childless Women Hostile to Working Moms. The website where this can be found is as follows: http://jezebel.com/gossip/mums-the-word/are-childless-women-hostile-to-working-moms-301574.php I chose this post because I thought it was interesting. Ben Black was mentioned in the blog, he is the founder of the UK child-care company who produced “The Working Mothers’ Report.” It showed how working mothers can be hated by workers that aren’t moms. It also brought up an interesting thought about how today’s society doesn’t account for families and parenting. The world just keeps spinning and the day must go on. It talks about how the non moms have to pick up the slack when the moms are away picking up kids or going to rehearsals. But did the workers ever think that they are not even close to what the mother workers have to go through in a day. We all shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The mother worker is at work at home and at work. She has to keep track of her kids and their activities while keeping up with her workload from work. Women are just fighting against each other when they should be supporting each other. As it is stated in the quote from the report:
“The report paints a picture of women undermining and undercutting each other, vying for advancement and some times filled with resentment.”
In response to the above quote a UK feminist Louise Livesey posted her reaction on her blog called The F Word. I found her reaction very amusing and true in all ways possible.
“Why (oh why, oh why) is it that it's women being compared to women here?" But we know exactly why: Because we're all guilty of what Tina Fey, in Mean Girls, called "girl on girl crime". In some ways, the world is the same it was in 4th grade: Catty, sneaky, full of judgments, gloating over microvictories and contests of one-upmanship.”
It is amazing how such a silly statement that was found in a movie would be so true and so hurtful. We all are victims and we all are the victimizers. Is it a flaw in society or just a flaw in us? That is the question and how are we able to fix this hostility? These are many questions we have not yet been able to answer.

HW#14 Response to Joi Ito

Ultimately Joi Ito has always been a leading player in the world of blogging. As a result, he has been able to develop a well balanced community online,in his blog called Joi Ito's Web. Specifically he states “himself as the custodian of the community, enabling people to come but it really is kind of like a party in his living room.” Actually I agree with him being the custodian because he cleans up what people say and how they say it. As a result he is able to portray a community because he tells them to be respectful of his wishes and views. After all Joi writes about just about anything, he enjoys reading people’s views, and learning from the peoples’ knowledge. Along the same lines of any other community based region. However, it is always unsure if the information given is actually true. In addition, Joi states that the availability of one’s voice being heard, will allow more folk art and folk music back into play. On the other hand I feel it will allow many pointless voices to be heard. As a result more unimportant problems will arise and become popular. Of course we will never know until the whole world of blogging progress even more.