Those darn computers!

So I cannot sleep at all, due to my cousins obsession of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. He got it this week and has been playing it non stop ever since. Except now it is 3:30 a.m. and it's really annoying. Sure its a fun game, but I need to sleep, especially since I have to drive home for 4 hours tomorrow. Alone. Anyways since I am still up I thought I would finish my homework.

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Some people say that computers have led to a loss of personal privacy because now people can track us, every minute of every day. Sure it may be an invasion of privacy, but that comes with the territory. Its also very helpful. It can help solve tons of crimes and investigations. Since computers can track many things about people, it makes it much easier to track down those people that are criminals or are missing. Life is easier with technology, even if it takes away some of your privacy. But what would you rather have? A life with privacy that is very unsafe, or a life that is safe but you give up some privacy?

There is a distinction between people that can afford computers and those that cannot. Technology has prevailed in our modern society and is necessary now. Yet since technology has become so widespread it is easier to obtain and cheaper in many cases. It doesn't cost 2000 dollars for a computers anymore. Sure some computers it may cost that much, but it is easy to have access to cheaper computers. Also it is not necessary to have a computer, there are plenty of people without computers that are living happy lives.

Plagiarism is a growing problem in technologically advanced countries. I feel as though computers has led to the ability for people to plagiarize. I feel as though there are many solutions out there already, such as the plagiarism checkers and stuff. It allows people to check if others are illegally copying and cheating.
*This doesn't relate to my response but I remember hearing a story from somebody about a student that copying an essay online word for word and turned it in. This student was not very bright and did not check who wrote the paper because it was a paper the teacher had written and put online.

Pornography, slander, and vilification are all problems that are growing because of the use of computers and the internet. I feel as though it comes with the territory of internet. It is always going to have things that are not wanted. It is a problem, but there are many solutions that are already in place. If we amplified these solutions it may be helpful also. For example, making sure nobody under 18 can view porn, or anybody that slanders or vilifies others is reported.

There have been ongoing efforts to censor the web and I feel as if that is something that should be done so some extent. There should be some censorship, especially for younger children, but I believe that as the children get older they should have the ability to surf the internet freely. There should not be a censorship on the internet completely. I feel as though it is the parents job to put a censorship on the computers.

The internet has become controlled by multinational corporations but I feel as though it would not work without these companies. Sure they may have a lot of power, but without them the internet would be very different. That should be taken into account. I personally like the internet exactly how it is and I would not want it to change.

Technological advancements are imminent in modern society. If that involves technology that translates spoken words to print, personally I believe it can make my life much easier. Therefore I am completely fine with it.

Print is dead? I read this in the article and I was actually rather confused. I don't believe print is dead. I personally love books. The smell of new book and the yellow pages of old books. When people began to read you books I do not think it is very good. I feel as though even though this technology may be helpful to some, it is not something everybody likes, therefore it will not be very powerful.

I personally hate newspapers. I have no clue why but they are just not something I like. When I want to hear about the news, I will watch T.V., or check online. That's it.

We have all heard that stereotype that kids that are home schooled are socially awkward. It is so not true, I know a lot of kids that are home schooled but have better social skills than most people. Personally if somebody does not wish to interact with others and rather just stay home, that is their choice. It is a free country. They should be allowed to do what they want to.

Stupid Googling!

So I've been sitting here for the past 2 hours trying to think of something to write about. Sure enough I ended up on Google. I feel like I use Google too much now. I Google things that are pointless and stupid. Things that should not be googled. So I googled "Interesting things to blog about" and I came across blogs talking how you should be creative and fun! Well I am for sure not creative. So i decided I would do just start writing (Like friday free writes) and see if I could find a topic! Sure enough I did and then I googled it.

I Googled "Stupid things people google." Of course. This is the link that I came across. I loved it. It may have been because it was midnight and I was really tired but I really could not stop laughing! Here are some of my favorites:

How do you break up with her without her knowing?

I'm sure someday she'll realize it...

How many Moonstones can you get?

How many Moon Trips have you been on?

What Size is her Finger?

6. No 5. No wait, 7. Maybe 8?

Ugliest, Cheapest Engagement Rings

Who are you Marrying???

I also came across this link. Some of my favorites on this site were:

Nope. Of course they don't eat.

Nope. Of course they don't eat.

Where do you live???

Obviously they speak english, so how do they not know this?

I dont even know what to say to the person that wrote this.

I used to think that I googled stupid things. I feel a little tiny bit better about myself now. Ok lets be honest I feel A LOT better about myself.

Writing my way!

I am very particular about how I write. I need to be in my upstairs living room which is the perfects size for me to spread out all my work. I also have this one spot on the couch in my living room that I have to sit at. I sit there because the rays from the sun seep through my window and hit exactly that spot. When I am sitting there I feel warm and I do not need a sweater or a blanket like I usually do in my house. My house happens to be very cold. This spot also gives me a view right in front of my house and that way I can look outside to see animals running outside, because we live in front of woods.

When I was writing this paper I was sitting on my favorite spot and I had my essay in front of me with my favorite black gel pen and a notebook. We were suppose to type this essay but I personally am a big fan of actually writing out my writing. It is called writing for a reason. I love the sound of a pen scratching on a piece of paper. I love how handwriting is not perfect and uniform like on the computer. I love how mistakes are shown in writing. Sure it is easier to just type out your paper, but to me it is not the same, it is completely different. My writing is more seriously when I type it.

When I sat down to write my paper the first time I wrote 12 pages. I proof read it, quickly got up, went to the trash can, ripped out every single page, and I threw them out. My first attempt at writing this essay was horrific. I felt completely disgusted by it. That essay we read, "Shitty first drafts," completely summed up my essay. Except mine was worse. The second time I wrote my essay it turned out much better. It was readable. I typed it up and left it for 2 days. By the time I came back to read it I could barely remember what I had written. This allowed me to read it from a new angle.

Rereading. Revisions. Rewriting. I did this so many times I can barely remember what my first draft even looked like. When I revise I usually read my essay out loud. Sure I sound crazy talking to myself, but it is the only thing that works for me. I hate rereading certain things, unless it is for fun. I usually zone out. Therefore when I read out loud it allows me to comprehend what I am reading. Yet even though I worked for a very long time on my essay I could have still revised it more and more. And more.

Major Movie Madness

This weekend my friend and I decided we were going to create a free one month netflix account and watch as many movies as we possibly could! We had a plan, go through the new releases and if either of us likes the cover to a movie we would watch it. Sure your not suppose to judge a book by its cover but to be honest, we really did not want to read the summaries for the movies. Bad idea.

Ever read part of a book and regret opening it? Well almost every time we played a movie we instantly regretted it. Sure there were some good movies, such as Avatar, Picture Perfect, and Tron Legacy. Yet somehow every other movie we picked we had to stop playing it before one of us pulled our hair out from frustration at the horrible plot.

One of the movies we watched was called Kissing Cousins, somehow we both failed to acknowledge the title and decided to watch anyways. 45 minutes of my life I will never get back. Also the movie Parenthood, in the first 10 minutes me and my friend had completely zoned out and changed it. The plots were both so cliched and the acting was so mediocre, I sometimes wonder how these movies even got played in the theaters.

I can't even remember the rest of those movies because I have mentally blocked the titles and the few minutes that we attempted to watch them. Sure I love watching bad movies once in a while but these movies made the bad ones look good! Well one good thing came out of this, I learned to always read the summaries!

The Way American Students are Portrayed

"You americans are so lazy. You never do anything and you guys sit there all day eating fast food." When I was in London this summer many of my cousins repeatedly said things about Americans, how we are slackers and how we are at school for one less year then them so we are not smart. This came from people that had never been to America, had met maybe 6 or 7 people from America, and got most of their information from movies. I felt as if I was always defending myself. I do not sit around doing nothing and I rarely have any free time because I am always doing my homework or working.
In 2 million minute the Americans seemed very laid back, careless, and lazy while the Indian and Chinese students were motivated, smart, and spent all their time studying. I felt that they showed the 2 extreme sides of it. Many students may be lazy in America, but just as many are driven and motivated to do well and succeed. They took the very extreme approach in showing 2 students that both are lazy and do not try in school yet do well in the end. This does not happen everyday, it is not like this, many students try very hard and work more than others but it does not end well for them. For the Chinese and Indians I felt as if they showed only one end of the spectrum. Not all of the students there can be that motivated, some are slackers and are not very smart at all. In the end those most of the students did not end up going to the colleges that they had wished to.
In the essays, "A Modest Proposal" and "For Once Blame the Students" the students are mostly portrayed as slackers. Both these essays show how Americans do not really try very hard. Both these essays show how the failed worth ethic of the students lead America to being behind other countries. Both of these essays portray the America students as lazy and undisciplined. Why is the blame completely on the students though? I feel like there should be some blame on the parents and teachers. In one of my classes my teacher asked how many of the students felt they had to do well because of their parents. Only 2 students said they felt pressured by their parents. Also haven't we all had that one teacher that does not really teach you very much and even though you get an A in the class you walk out feeling as though you learned nothing? I have had a teacher like that and I feel as though the blame can not be put completely on the students for not learning anything. Most of the students in that class went to the office to try and fix the problem, we went to get some help from the school because we wanted to learn. Yet nothing was done about it.
American students to some extent are behind in Academics yet others are doing very well. I feel that saying all Americans are slackers is stereotypical and completely a lie. Many do try hard and attempt to do well but are not given the same opportunities and there for tend to do worse than they could be. Teachers and Parents are also to blame for this, if they motivated their students more maybe Americans would be doing better now. 2 million minutes, A modest Proposal, and For once blame the students only show one side. What about the other side of the story?

Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in a city near piccadilly!

I decided I would write my blog post on my trip this summer. I was at a restaurant with some family friends and they were going to london the next day and my dad said I could go with them! I was so excited and we went to get my passport the next morning and we had left by 9 p.m. So the first week there I met a bunch of my family that I never knew I had. It was so much fun and I went to one of there weddings and did lots of shopping!

The next week I went site seeing! I have been to London before but I really could not remember some of the sites so it was a lot of fun! My favorite part was the boat ride we took down the Thames river and we got to see all these bridges! (My favorite one was the millennium bridge which was in Harry Potter) We saw all the main sites, globe theater, the london eye, big ben and even westminster abbey. My favorite part of the entire trip was seeing Kate Middleton's dress on display with the wedding cake and which was gorgeous!

I also went to Madam Tussaud's! That was one of the highlights of my trip! So Madam Tussaud's is a wax museum and it has wax figures of celebrities! I went with one of my cousins and we had so much fun!

After 2 weeks I was ready to go home because my brother was going off to college so I wanted to spend some time with him. Except I had not bought a ticket, instead we were on standby for Delta. Delta was having a strike during this time so I was stuck in London. A trip that was suppose to last 2 weeks lasted 1 month! I was not complaining because I was in London! I spent more time with my family and friends and the trip was so much fun, and my mom said I can go next year also! Which is the summer that the Olympics are there!

Obama Speech!

So I looked everywhere for the Obama Speech but I couldn't find it, so i watched the speech from 2 years ago. In this speech he began by talking about his own personal experience and how he had not gotten a normal education. He had gotten part of his education in a different country where his mom taught him. Obama related his own personal experience to ours because he said he knew how it felt to get up early and not want to learn.
He also talked about our responsibilities. Not just the students responsibilities but also the parents. The parents should encourage the students to learn, and not just sit at home watching T.V and playing XBox.
He used a lot of logos and pathos in this speech. He talks about how education will allow you to succeed. If you succeed you may possibly change the world and make it better for everybody. He talks about how he had not done as well as he should of in school, or even could have. How he did not have the same opportunities as some kids. He relates that to those kids that have gone through some difficult problems in life just as he had. Obama also uses specific examples of people that pushed through difficult parts of their lives and end up with a great life.
Obama's speech was very motivational and made me want to try even harder. Not just in school but in life. To do whatever I can to make the world better.

Those horrible Jim Crow Laws.

When I was reading these Jim Crow laws I actually felt sick to my stomach. How could people act that way? What made them think that they were better than anyone else? I knew that it had happened but I had never really learned the gory details. I never thought to hard about it, but now it seems way to realistic for me.
Then I thought why should we be so critical? What makes us better? We are still at war and killing innocent civilians.  There are people that are starving in the world and we usually only do the bare minimum. Yet just because we have moved forward in one area, racism, does not mean that we should consider ourselves to be superior to them. What we do today is also horrible. Back when the Jim Crow Laws were first created it was normal for these things to happen. They were part of society. Even if we see it as barbaric now. What will people say about us in 100 years? Society will always grow, and change, and evolve but its not possible to have a utopian society, it never will be. So don't judge what other people do until you look at what you are doing first. 

Words? -Brendan Gill

As I read this story I thought of how confused I had felt when I was younger. Until I was 8 years old I didn't eat finger sandwiches. My mom would make them for parties and I would stay as far away as possible from the kitchen while hiding my fingers. As I watched people eat them I felt disgusted. I would think to myself, "Who eats fingers?" Homophones confused me more than anything. Not knowing exactly what they were when I was five or six I quickly became confused. I would read letters that began with "Dear, Ashna," and would feel offended. Why are they calling me a deer? Im not a deer! My mom would have to explain to me that "deer" and "dear" had completely different meanings. I understand completely why the author chose writing over architecture. The english language is so complex and so meaningful. There is never one definite answer like there is in math. Brendan Gill seemed to like that even though it may be confusing at first, words could be used in many different contexts. His tone seemed to display excitement and amusement! This story really spoke to me because I understood exactly what he meant about words. 

Why do I write?

When I write I feel free. I feel as though I can truly express myself. As I write I am able to completely share my thoughts. feelings. and emotions. Writing allows me to completely express myself. I am completely free as I write. I let myself write and write only what I am thinking. This allows me to shows my raw emotions and feelings. It may not be perfect the first time but it still allows me to feel happy. When I am writing I am sure that there are no rules, guidelines, or restrictions. I am allowed to write exactly what I want without being afraid of what others will say or think. I have a journal that I keep and record my thoughts everyday. This journal sometimes allows me to vent my feelings, so that I don't bottle them up. Other times I have to force myself to write because I know that when I write in it every day I will become a better writer. Whether I write to vent my feeling, or because I am forcing myself to write, I know that in the end I am happy with what I have created. It may have many mistakes in it or it may be perfect, but either way I know that I have created it and that is what makes me happy.