Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Very Long Since Last Post

It's been very long since my last. Just saying "Hello!" to the world. I'm up late after work cramming for my PSYC test tomorrow and procrastinating by updating my digital self.

Monday, May 11, 2009

An Analysis of the Public Sphere in a Post-Industrial, Capitalist Mass Democracy


Uploaded on authorSTREAM by roseva1

If you have been directed here please watch this short powerpoint presentation about Jurgen Habermas and his theory of the public sphere. Please post comments and tell me what you think. I will be using these comments to make assertions about the strength of the public sphere through the internet in regards to this specific project. A final conclusion video will be posted in about one week in which I will discuss my findings. Thank you very much.

Important Links from the Powerpoint
Bloggers Unite to Fight
Robert Reich's Economic Blog
YouTube's "News and Politics" Channel
Weblogs and the Public Sphere

Want to Know More? Here's a short YouTube video (not made by me) about the Public Sphere

An Analysis of the Public Sphere in a Post-Industrial, Capitalist Mass Democracy


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Catching Up on Some ANTM

THANK GOD FOR CWTV.COM!

On Wednesday nights I have class from 7:10 to 9:40. So this entire semester I missed the new episodes of America's Next Top Model Cycle 11. Luckily cwtv.com allows you to watch old episodes that you've missed or want to watch again. It seriously saved my life because America's Next Top Model is by far the best show on television. I might be exaggerating...but I do love it.

The best part about it is there are far fewer commercials. True, they do need to sneak in an advertisement in there so the site can profit from sponsors, but the clip is only 30 seconds which cuts down on watching time...hence, more time to do "my school work."

Peace, Love
Evan

The Cell Phone Incident

Yesterday was a great day. Admission to the National Aquarium was only a dollar! Obviously I went.

It was packed...and I mean PACKED! The aquarium was crawling with people, kids, parents, grandparents. I stood in line for a solid 45 minutes before I was able to get in. While my friends and I were standing in line I noticed this lady with her two kids. They were twin boys and extremely rambunctious. I noticed this woman because she was on her cell phone, speaking rather loudly, and letting her sons run amok.

Currently Under Construction

Peace, Love
Evan

A Suggestion

If I had to make a suggestion for next semester I would want the "choice blogs" to have certain due dates. For example, it would keep more students on track if it was required that a certain number of the choice blogs needed to be done by certain dates throughout the semester. I'm assuming most students like myself saved the other blogs until the last minute.

Peace, Love
Evan

The Books for 370

This semester we read four books for MCS 370: The Wisdom of Crowds, Millennial Makeover, The Cult of the Amateur, and iSpy. Of the four I found The Wisdom of Crowds to be the least relevant to what we discussed in class; however, I did enjoy the book and there definitely were relevant subject areas in the book. The one book that I did not like was The Cult of the Amateur. Keen seemed to be too much of an elitist for my taste and his theories didn't seem to be based in anything factual. His theories seem to be the easiest to refute, especially due to the overuse of ridiculously strong language; however, the book was relevant because it brought a different perspective than the first two books.

On the whole, I think the books for the course were diverse and allowed me to see arguments from every angle.

Peace, Love
Evan

Online Christmas Shopping

I love to shop online. It's the most convenient way to shop. You never need to leave your house. Lately I've been doing a lot of my Christmas shopping online. I've bought almost all my gifts already, but I haven't bought anything for Taylor yet. I had texted him last week asking what he wanted for Christmas. He said he just wants something simple, so I decided I would get him a new cologne.

As I started to shop online for cologne I realized I was going to have a problem. I couldn't smell the fragrance so how was I going to choose?? I ended up heavily relying on customer reviews. I'm sure I read at least 200 reviews of about 20 different colognes. In the end I chose Very Irresistible for Men by Givenchy.

Peace, Love
Evan

Relationship Troubles

Taylor, my boyfriend, is currently with out a cellular phone. It's driving me crazy and I can't even imagine how he feels. When I do get to talk to him he says he feels like his life is a mess without his phone. This is a testament to the emotional attachments people develop to their electronic media.


Peace, Love
Evan

My Digital Boyfriend

So I have a boyfriend...and I have never met him in person.

Yes, I am very embarrassed to admit this, but it's true. And if you are curious...yes, this is the same boyfriend that I met on dList, and yes, this is the same boyfriend whose phone records I contemplated buying over the internet (if you've read my previous posts). His name is Taylor Johnson. He lives in Tyler, Texas, a small city outside of Dallas. He is 23 years old. His birthday is May 1st. He is a Taurus. He is 6'5" and 215 lbs. He has dark brown hair and eyes. He is a third degree black belt. He is the director of marketing for Suddenlink Inc. which is a cable company. I talk to him on the phone every day at least twice a day usually for an hour or so at a time. We text each other constantly, as well as send each other picture and video messages on a regular basis...

You're probably thinking, "This kid is NUTS!" That is debatable. Some of you might also be asking, "How do you know you're not being tricked?" Well, sometimes I wonder the same thing (hence, I almost bought his phone records). However, I do trust him and I do have ways of finding out if he is lying to me or not. This, though, is not my point.

Without the advent of the internet, as well as other technologies, this relationship would be non-existent. I would never even know Taylor existed. My friends often make fun of me about this whole thing and refer to my cell phone as Taylor, and in a way it's true. My phone is Taylor. It is the only way I can reach him. He's kind of like a digital boyfriend, and I'm totally fine with that.

Peace, Love
Evan