Monday, March 19, 2007

wikipedia edit #3

WOW! okay I promise I'm almost done. My third wikipedia edit is for the article of Longport, New Jersey found here. I added the part regarding education. Students that reside in Longport year round in grades 9-12 are given the option to go to two different high schools, but the wikipedia article only mentioned one. So I added the information about the other high school, Holy Spirit High School.

wikipedia edit #2 of the night

I am just on a roll tonight with my blogging fun! I just edited the wikipedia article on Iron and Wine, which can be seen here. Recently, Sam Beam (singer of Iron and Wine) performed two small concerts at two small venues. I added this information to the article. It is rather important, because they were the only two shows he will be performing until he goes on an official tour this summer or fall.

wikipedia edit

I just edited my wikipedia article for the movie Big Fish. The article did not have much information about the plot, so I added a sentence that gets the reader more involved in what is going on in the movie. The article can be found here but I must warn that this article has a spoiler if you have not seen the movie yet.

Treonauts

Recently in class we discussed the topic of Treonauts, and how they have more googlejuice than Treo itself . Now, while Treonauts may not be the topic to focus on, I was interested. I do not personally own a Treo cell phone, but at my former job working at Red Bull, we were required to carry a Treo 600 (I begged for a 650) on us at all times while working. I worked for the company for a long time (especially by Red Bull standards) and got very familiar with the Treo phone. So, I decided to do a little research on Treonauts.
Treonauts have a website as well as a blog . The website itself seems very focused on the blog they produce, but they also have phone comparisons, forums, accessories, search, FAQs, as well as other topics. The blog is updated regularly, but seems to take a large portion of it's space to advertise accessory sales and similar topics for Treo users. It clearly is not made for "outsiders" and is intended for current Treo users. While interesting, it doesn't exactly benefit me with not having a phone currently.

a little housekeeping and maintenance

I recently subsrcibed to a link of a search that I'm interested in as we were asked to do in class recently. The RSS feed that I found through feedster search is this oneavailable here . The search is regarding Philadelphia Nightlife.

Also, my mom actually earned me some extra credit because she tends to "google" me when she gets bored. A vanity search, correct? Maybe not if she's not searching herself. But my link is found here with a search for my full name and HOW EXCITING, my blog is the number one match for a search of my name!

Lastly, for now anyway, I have also linked my teammates' blog links on my blogger website, along with my bloglines account.

Monday, March 12, 2007

VALS survey

A team member of mine, Olivia, just posted her VALS results and I thought that I would post mine, too. We talked about VALS survey's being a great way for companies to get to know their employees. Well, here are my results and how I feel about them.
My primary type is Experiencer. According to this survey, I am motivated by self-expressions. I am young (check), enthusiastic (check), and impulsive (check). I quickly become excited and enthusiastic about new possibilities but I also am equally quick to cool down. I seek variety and excitement; savor the new, the offbeat and the risky. My energy tends to find an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities. The survey also says that I spend a lot of my income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing.
I agree with the majority of this. I am fun, enthusiastic, and passionate. I do like buying things that reflect who I am and my fun, silly, and a little off-the-wall attitude towards life. For an example, I am honestly very much looking forward to the release of Apple’s iPhone. I watched the hour-long keynote explaining every aspect of the phone, check their website regularly, and am on e-mail lists of further information. This may seem silly to most, but I am absolutely fascinated by this phone and as a result, HAVE TO HAVE IT. Now, does a 21 year old really need a $500 phone? No. And my dad would agree. But, I am counting down the days until my current phone contract runs up so that I can switch cell phone carriers and get the iPhone.
I also agree, and disagree, with where my energy tends to find its’ outlet. I tend to love nothing more than the feeling of a successful, completed workout- but I hate going to the gym. I will go, kicking and screaming, but I will go. Even though I know how much I like completing a workout. And another issue I agree with, but also disagree with, is where the majority of my money goes. I do spend a lot of my money on fashion, but I really enjoy shopping at bargain, thrift, and secondhand shops to create funky, new outfits. I get that mini-rush of finding a good bargain, so I don’t like spending a lot of money.
The secondary type according to VALS is Innovator. I am described as successful, sophisticated, take-charge kind of person with high self-esteem. I am most receptive to new ideas and technologies. I am a very active consumer, and I tend to purchase upscale, niche products and services. Also, image is important to me, but not as evidence of status or power but as an expression of my taste, independence, and personality. Innovators tend to be among the established and emerging leaders in business and government, yet continuing to seek challenges. My life is characterized by variety.
Agreed! As I explained before, I love having the latest gadgets and equipment. I even sold my perfectly good iPod so that I could buy the newer version. I like to read about the new technologies that are coming out and purchase them, even if they aren’t necessary. I don’t really know why I like having new things so much, but I get a great deal of satisfaction from having new and better things than other people. I guess I inherited that trait from my parents.

Friday, March 9, 2007

privacy issues

I recently found a post on Slashdot.org's blog. This particular article really caught my attention because the headline was "Sweden admits Tapping Citizens' phones for Decades" and the article links to another article where the alleged government has been invading its' citizens for over ten years. The reason this article came out now was because the government is talking about new survelliance methods regarding emails, telephone calls and advanced word searches to pertain to specific citizens.
I don't mean to be rash, but you imagine what would happen if the US government admitted to doing something like this, or if they are right now and no one has found out? People would flip shit. There would be complete chaos all over. I can't imagine how the Swedish citizens feel about this, but you have to think that their lives must be completely different than our familiar lives if they are forced to just go along with this internal spying.
Here you can read the initial articles