no penny necessary

Cautious Restraint

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:47:18 -0500

I have mixed feelings about blogs--mostly because the internet gives people the illusion that its safe to blurt out deepest feelings and express what, under normal circumstances, ought not be expressed. Its always tempting to throw out random comments about what we love or what we hate with less thought to who might be affected by our outburst than what we might have if we were standing face to face with . . . anyone. And yet, it offers a creative outlet and provides an audience, size often unknown, for the secret poet, lyricist, actor, or hopeless romantic inside of all of us. As more Jane's and Joe's find their voice online, one phrase all of us ought to remember is "cautious restraint." Editorials are quickly replacing good journalism and the reporting of verifiable fact. Opinions are a dime a dozen, and too many people believe everything they read. So if you happen to be online finding your voice, please remember not to lose your mind.

Bloggers, Stand up for 1st Amendment Responsibility

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:42:18 -0500

This morning I encountered a disturbing article about the harrassment female bloggers receive. While both male and female bloggers encounter tastless comments online, women are threatened with rape, abuse, and death, and the threats often extend to their families. Comments like these demonstrate that women-hating is alive and well in the 21st Century. The unfortunate consequence of this hate speech is that a forum meant to level the playing field is becoming an unwelcoming place for women.

Comminfotainment?

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:15:43 -0500

I was reading the New York Times online and I came across an article called "The Future of Telecommunications May Be 'Comminfotainment.'" In it, Victoria Shannon summarizes her interview with Alcatel- Lucent's Chief Technology Officer, Olivier Baujard. Baujard believes that as early as 5 years from now, the telcos and mobile operators will be no more. In their places will be broadband providers offering channels of communication that will provide customers with voice, data, and video.

my life, the musical

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:25:16 -0500

When I was an undergrad and my life revolved around AIM (Aol Instant Messanger, just in case you didn't know), I would pride myself on the cleverness of my away messages. Hey, don't hate. Anyway, one of my favorites went something like this. . .

hark, dost thou speaketh true?

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:46:47 -0500

During my senior year English class in high school, we did a unit on Renaissance England complete with field trip to a Renaissance Fair followed by the production of our own renaissance fair in the hallways of our school. We researched the era, made or own costumes, and even learned a dance that we performed every 20 minutes or so for the visitors (underclassmen and teachers). It was actually a lot of fun and not cheesy and embarrassing at all. The best part was trying to speak Elizabethan English for two hours.

Realism in Renaissance Art

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:11:59 -0500

While studying art in my undergraduate years, I sculpted a rough block of soap stone approximately 4x5x10 inches into three figures. Soap stone is so named for its relative softness (a chisel and mallet were still involved), and my first time around, I managed a figurative expression of human beings. I think it turned out pretty good. After having that experience, I am all the more amazed at the detail with which the renaissance artists created realistic--and large--figures in marble and bronze.

No Penny Necessary

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:49:46 -0500

Since a weblog is essentially an online journal, and my name is shared with someone whose career path draws a lot of attention on the internet, I decided to give my blog a name that had relevance to both the concept and my experiences in CICS. The title of my weblog originated from the saying “A penny for your thoughts,” but my colleagues at the Center can also appreciate it for the reference to a practice by one of our professors. Dr. Jay Gillette has the habit of giving someone a penny as a token of wealth in exchange for a piece of information, because “information is wealth.” In this case, I am offering my thoughts, and any information they might contain, free of charge.

Info Renaissance: Powered by Google

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 22:24:02 -0500

A major catalyst of the European Renaissance was the invention of the printing press. Books could be made cheaply and were distributed to people that didn't have access to such writings before, spurring growth in the economy, human thought, and artistic expression. Thanks to the internet, another type of renaissance is occuring in our lifetime. But the internet with its millions of pages would be impossible to navigate without search engines like Google.

The Renaissance Woman in Me

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 23:25:17 -0500

The European Renaissance is the period following the Middle Ages that spans the early to mid 1400’s and 1500’s and is noted for its advances in the availability of information due to the invention of the printing press, economic changes that led to a more informed and affluent middle class, as well as profound changes in philosophy, art, and architecture.

ESP. . . . N

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:51:53 -0500

The weirdest thing happened to me tonight. I was minding my own business doing some work on my computer when I decided to check my email. That's all I did, I opened a new window and clicked on the email link in my favorites. All of a sudden, I hear this click sound--as if I was navigating a page--and ESPN radio starts coming through the computer's speakers.

still old-fashioned

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:54:04 -0500

Yesterday, my family piled in the ol' station wagon and headed to Ohio to visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and so forth. I noticed my brother had some kind of odd contraption in his pocket, but I didn't inquire as to what it was as I was still trying to pack up the car. I had chosen a few of my favorite CD's for the two hour ride and slipped them in my bag. Afterall, there's nothing worse than splotchy radio.

As we were pulling out, my brother took out his girlfriend's iPod and told my dad to put the radio on a certain station, proudly declaring he had brought his friend's iTrip with him. Well, I thought I was pretty up-to-date when it comes to new technological toys, but apparently no one sent me the iTrip memo. What is this iTrip he speaks of, I wondered.

team 2 dcc test

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:02:41 -0500

This is a distributed collaborative community experiment with the Weblog for Team 2.

it's okay, I'm not crazy

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:05:18 -0500

Well, its official. I have jumped on the bandwagon, went along with the crowd, I've become a lemming, jumped off the bridge, conformed, or however you want to put it. I didn't really like it, I made fun of people who used it, and even now, I still don't know how I feel about my recent purchase. That's right, you guessed it, I have taken one step closer to a Star Trek existence. In a word, Bluetooth.

"Creativity is Born of Necessity"

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:40:30 -0500

The other day I was thinking about the phrase "Creativity is born of necessity." As a new mom, I have come to appreciate the phrase for its insight. It makes me wonder whether the phrase was first coined by a mom, or perhaps we just made it popular. Afterall, I've also heard that "Creativity is the mother of invention." So if Necessity is the mother of Creativity, and Creativity is the mother of Invention, then Invention is the granddaughter of Necessity. My question is then, who is the father of creativity and invention?

Enough about rights, be responsible

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:06:11 -0500

In the Monday October 24, 2006 edition of the Muncie Star Press, a high school student expressed his disgust over a woman winning $11.3 million over what he called petty name-calling in the blogosphere. The Florida woman sued another woman for defamation after she called her a “crook,” “a con artist,” and “a fraud” on Fornits.com.

The first problem I have with his criticism is that he seems to have little understanding of first amendment rights. It seems the only lesson he could extract from the lawsuit is that we “should keep our thoughts to ourselves” while the greater lesson should be that the whole country needs a refresher course in constitutional rights.