#10 - Blogging

Blogging hasn't really been a big part of my online life. This class enables the students to give it a try if we haven't already been exposed to it, but it is only for a grade. I have read a lot of the other students blogs during the semester and it seems like most have been honestly relaying their genuine thoughts out there. I use to have a Twitter account, however I was part of the current trend going on that signed up, gave it a try, and then deleted my account after a couple months. It just didn't make sense to me as to why everyone is so fascinated with everyone elses' life. I grow frustrated reading blogs, or Facebook posts for that matter, that updates the online community about their everyday livings. But yet I am torn between my feeling about blogging. On one hand, I can't stand it because common (young adults) people think it's cool to follow in this trend. On the other hand, there are some legitimate blogs that actually inform the public about what truly is occurring in the world and society. These are typically the blogs that I would read. Allowing anyone with an Internet connection create and posts blogs is a catch-22 for me. There are tons of nonsense information people throw out there, but I can always find intelligent blogs that are interesting to me, even if I've never thought about the topic before. I'm anxious to see how far blogging will go because I can see some regulations coming soon about blogging. I think that the government/FCC feels that there could be too much information exposed by blogging that they just don't want the general public to know. How this regulation will transpire is anyone with a rational thought's guess, but I'm sure it's coming soon enough. Maybe they will play the card about how employers are terminating employees based on their blogs, or how certain information is getting leaked to the public about future products from mega-corporations like Google. The problem that I have with it all is that if blogging is allowed to express our First Amendment right, even if it's to criticism the government, then there should be no regulation on it regardless of how I or anyone else feels about what people post. Corrective action or punishment about a blog post is ridiculous and it's not my call to dictate such occurrences, however if action needs to be taken about certain posts, then they should only happen because of libel, slander, or threat of a human life. Nevertheless, blogging continues to grow in popularity but the line is going to have to be drawn somewhere, sometime. Perhaps after a couple more lawsuits.
Which leads me to my reflection of this course. I was pleasantly surprised in what knowledge I gained from this past semester. Have I retained all the information discussed? Not really, but there are key points that I seemed to have taken from almost every class session. I noticed that most of the information was things that we are apart of or see in everyday life. This course seemed to point out certain areas and give definitions and meanings to them. One example is the "Diffusion of Innovations". We all know there are certain people that get the earliest technology when available and others that wait. I just never thought about how information about innovations get communicated through different channels or the decision-making process that users go through before accepting such innovations. I found that particularly lesson quite intriguing. There were also other topics that I was aware of, such as privacy and security, that I was interested in knowing more about. Having served 6 years in the Air Force, I am a true believer in protecting our freedoms. That field of interest for me is one that I am so caught up in that I feel sick to know about certain freedoms that are slowly and meticulously being taken from the American people. Even though I am no longer enlisted, I still believe in protecting the freedoms this country was founded on that made it so great. I just pray that with every new innovation that comes along, that it not be the one that continues the intrusion of privacy but the one that helps restore the freedoms gone. I'm just thankful for the knowledge I have received and hopeful that I can possibly be part of the restoration process.

#9 - Cell Phones

I think that I have reached a point in my life where a cell phone is more of a nuisance than a luxury. I must be an exemption in this day of age and of my generation. I did not grow up with a cell phone nor have I been overly dependent upon one. The first one I received was when I was a senior in high school, but before that I had a pager for a couple years. I thought that was the cool thing then, a pager! Now, I just can't believe how obsessed society has become for cell phones. I find it rather repulsive that immediately following class how many students get on their cell phones. Hell, about 1/3 of the students in class are messing with their cell phones during the class. How important do these people think they are that they have to be in constant contact with someone 24/7? Is it really too difficult to not touch it for an hour and 15 minutes? I don't know why it frustrates me, but it does. I have been trying to convince my wife that a cell phone for me is wasting money. If the idea is to be accessible to people, then I am accessible to people that I don't want to be accessible to. For one, the only people that call me during the day, for 6 days a week, are bill collectors. So even if someone legitimately calls me, I don't answer because I'm so used to someone wanting money that I don't have to give them. This is the voice function of the cell phone that I can do without. Having a cell phone does not make me feel safe, although I can see how someone might feel safe with one. However, it is not necessary for everyone and their brother to have an iPhone to feel safe. I find it odd how the term "cell phone" seems to be quietly transitioning into "iPhone". Apple really seems to be trying to control the cell phone industry by advertising "If you don't have an iPhone, well then you don't have an iPhone". Advertising like that really makes me ponder the functionalities of the iPhone and why they want EVERYONE to have one and why they can't be satisfied with the 90 million + units that has been sold so far through the first quarter of 2011. My skepticism of products, especially technological products, has only been further solidified by the content of Comm 303, particularly pertaining to privacy and security. Every cell phone continually gets upgraded daily, it seems, and with more sophisticated features implemented. While many of these features sound outstanding, like GPS, I view them as one way "Big Brother" can pry into our lives. For me, it makes the world seem smaller and more dangerous. But for now, I will continue to have my cell phone until my current contract with Sprint expires. I am at an age where I don't have to feel "cool" anymore unless its to my son, of whom thinks I'm cool regardless if I have the new phone or not. I have been slowly weeding out unnecessary expenses, and my cell phone just happens to be the next one on the "out".

#8 -Healthcare and Comm Technologies

The path that communication technology and health care are currently riding is, honestly, one that I have less traveled. I can only imagine the endless misleading medical information a person can access on the Internet, so I tend to not embark on that journey because I'm not that familiar with it. I usually rely on the two medical professionals in my family if there is something wrong with me or my son. My wife on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed Doogie Howser M.D. She is constantly relying on information she gathers from the Internet for diagnosing everybody. How reliable the information is doesn't seem to matter, just as long as something makes sense and sounds like it might work. While I was in the military, I had medical appointments almost every other month. Not that something was wrong, but just because I had to stay combat ready if the time came for me to go to the Middle East or elsewhere; which the time came multiple times. I never really had to think about my health because I felt in great shape and healthy. Also, if anything was wrong with me there would be a medical professional that would tell me what was wrong and what I needed to do to fix. Now my wife and her side of the family have medical conditions that keep doctor bills constantly coming in they should name part of the Norton clinic "Taylor Wing"! My wife has also told me about different applications that she can get on her phone that relates to medical do-dads but I think that they're just more stuff to clutter up phones. I don't know what it is that makes people think that they can self-diagnose themselves concerning health matters. I guess I can point the finger at one of the worst things I see in our society concerning health and communication technology and the is the ever so annoying and misleading medical/prescription ads on television. I wish there was a regulation to put an end to these ads. They all ask dumbass questions that the average person is unqualified to answer, even if they are talking about themselves. Or they ask questions that can relate to just about everyone. Questions like: "Are you depressed, urinating constantly, anxious, tired, flaccid, unfocused, hyper, too fat, too skinny, yadda yadda yadda". It goes on and on while they flash products in our face thinking that it can fix us but yet they mention side-effects that are worse that the diagnosis. Side-effects such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and even DEATH! What the hell can someone have that is bad enough that they would want to try something that could kill them. I'm sorry but I think that I will stick with being a little too much of a neat-freak than risk my life. And when these ads do first come out, they are usually followed a couple months later with a legal ad asking if anyone that was affected/hurt by a product to call a number so that you can get a settlement. What is wrong with this country? ---> Let me get back on track here. So health care and comm technology. I think this is a case of too many choices for people that do not have the intellect to make these choices. Or it can be that some doctors are just trying to get as many people as they can on medication as possible because that is how they make their money, especially psychiatrists. Repeat visits to refill prescriptions for people that don't need them. Doctors are now in the business of "legal" drug dealing. And this drug dealing business will continue to dominate our society with the help of communication technology.