Internet Essay

The internet was invented in the 20th century and ever since then it has been a great phenomenon. Not one day goes by that it is not daily used, and the majority of people that use it are kids to be more exact teenagers. Last week in my American Literature class my teacher showed us this movie called Social Networking that basically explains how Facebook came to be. Now if you did not know Facebook is a very famous social networking site that is used by many people mostly by teenagers and people in their early 20’s. The creator of Facebook is Marcus Zellbegger who appears to be the youngest billionaire of the world at the The Social Network is the story of Facebook, a website created in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 that has redefined how we connect and communicate in the 21st century. At its core, the film is much, much more than just the story of one website. It is a story of success and failure and the trappings of ego and greed. The film is based on real people and real events.
The film opens with one of its strongest scenes, a five-minute interchange between a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend. Zuckerberg, brilliantly portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, speaks a mile a minute, quickly moving from one topic to the next, leaving his companion to exclaim, “Dating you is like dating a StairMaster.” Throughout the course of the conversation, an acutely unaware Zuckerberg proceeds to insult his girlfriend, belittling her background, intellect and future life prospects. Having had enough, she ends the relationship and tells him off. This scene, one of the most significant seeing as it introduces the audience to Mark, a man who is clearly brilliant, but who is also deeply insecure, awkward and more than a bit antisocial. It also sets up the motive behind the project that would become the precursor to Facebook, Facemash. With Facemash, a Hot or Not for female students at Harvard, Mark brings down the university network, gets in some trouble with the administration and makes himself an outcast on campus. It also brings him to attention of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, two good-looking, athletic and privileged twins. The Winklevosses and their friend, Divya Narendra, are looking to build a social dating site for Harvard men. They want Mark to work on the code. He readily agrees. The dating site spawns a much bigger idea in Mark’s head — and that idea is Facebook. Partnering with his best friend and financier Eduardo Saverin, Mark builds The Facebook. What follows is an almost viral spread of user adoption and rapid growth and expansion.
The second and third acts of the film primarily involve the massive ascent of Facebook and the parallel breakdown between best friends Mark and Eduardo. As Eduardo Saverin he’s the most relatable character in the film, but that isn’t to say he’s the hero. On the contrary, while the film makes it easy to empathize with his position — being cut out of one of the biggest companies founded this decade — it equally makes it clear that if Eduardo Saverin had run the business end of Facebook, Facebook wouldn’t be anything close to what it is today. The second and third act of the film primarily involve the massive ascent of Facebook and the parallel breakdown between best friends Mark and Eduardo. As Eduardo Saverin, Andrew Garfield is particularly good at gaining our sympathies. He’s the most relatable character in the film, but that isn’t to say he’s the hero. On the contrary, while the film makes it easy to empathize with his position — being cut out of one of the biggest companies founded this decade — it equally makes it clear that if Eduardo Saverin had run the business end of Facebook, Facebook wouldn’t be anything close to what it is today. The undisputed facts regarding Facebook are that by May 2005, just over 15 months after thefacebook.com launched, the company already had 2.8 million registered users and had received its second round of funding for $13 million. In six years, the site has gone from being something meant to bring the college experience online to something that is quickly altering multiple forms of media and gaining more and more users from every corner of the globe. Whether Facebook is the next Google or not, I’m not sure, but it has utterly encapsulated the zeitgeist of this era of computing and communications. Facebook’s legacy and influence over the future is something that cannot be in disputed. There is a cost for great success and a cost for changing the world. Oftentimes, those costs are paid in relationships. That’s true for widget salesmen, and it’s true for founders of social networks. This underscores how adroit the tagline for the film really is: “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”
Now after seeing this movie what I ask myself is the internet mostly good or bad? Wed 2.0 brought the world together harboring a sense of community in which the common person could post their thoughts and experiences on the web to share with others. But yet so many bad things happen through the internet such as that one case where a college student got kicked out of his Christian college because he posted some gay pictures of himself and some administrators kicked him out, “College student Michael Guinn thought the photos he posted of himself dressed in drag would be seen only by friends. But he made a mistake. And when someone showed the photos to administrators at John Brown University, a Christian College in Siloam Springs, Ark., it was “the last straw for them” say Guinn, 22, who is gay. In January, he was kicked out of school, his virtual paper trail of musings about boyfriends and visits to clubs a clear sign to the administrators that, despite repeated warnings, Guinn’s activities were in violation of the campus conduct codes stating that behavior must “affirm and honor Scripture” (11TH Grade Contemporary Composition Course , Text 4: “What You Say Online Can Haunt You” by Janet Kornblum And Mary Beth Marklein pg 167). Now when I read this with some of my classmates there was a lot of controversy about it because some thought that it was right to kick the student out because obviously he shouldn’t have been posting up such pictures on the internet about himself. He should have known that on the internet there is no such thing as privacy! You are always prone to computer hackers who can always expose your information everywhere. Then again some say that his sexual orientation should have nothing to do with what the school did to him they should have left him continue school there. Now me I am kind of in a neutral position because the guy shouldn’t be judged on his sexuality and that was his personal Facebook page no one should have showed it to the administrators at the college, but then again kids can be mean. Also the college is a Christian college so they have certain standards you have to uphold too if you want to go there and if you want to argue with that then choose a different college.
The internet plays a big role in our lives, this New York Times article that I read goes on to say that the Internet is also causing us to sleep less (by 8.5 minutes) and that it reduces contact with family members by 23.5 minutes per day. The researchers acknowledged that they cannot answer the question of whether or not it strengthens or weakens social relationships. That's been a burning question since the rise of the Internet, in my opinion I do thin it affects relationships because you’re on the computer for so darn long you forget about your friends and family because you’re so into your virtual self. The article estimates that 75% of the country has Internet access now. Unfortunately, we still have some elected leaders in our communities that don't think any of this is important, because they are viewing it through the lens of their own (somewhat limited) experience, rather than trying to look at the community as a whole. When 75% of your constituents are using the Internet, it's not a fad or a luxury for the well off--it's a necessity of daily life. In rural communities, the Internet has broken the chains of rural isolation and dramatically improved the quality of life in areas like shopping. Living in a rural area no longer means long drives (or doing without) to obtain needed items--a couple of clicks online and the products are delivered to your door, or even via broadband, if you don't live near a well-stocked music store, as just one example, 1995 was the year the Internet really took off. Ten years later, we've gone from a tiny number of people who had Internet access back then to 75% of the country--that's the fastest diffusion of a new technology ever. We're on to something here, and I believe it's mostly for the good. We're more aware of world events, better informed on local, national, and international issues, have more control over our time, and have all kinds of new business and work opportunities available to us. Just one example: despite the sheer awfulness of the tsunami, we all know about it in a way that we never could have even five years ago, to say nothing of ten or twenty years ago. Is the knowing a good thing? Well, charitable giving, propelled by hundreds and thousands of Web sites helping to organize aid, will likely break every fund-raising record in the world. In the face of horrible suffering and pain, the Internet gives us an opportunity to demonstrate our basic humanity and caring for others--an opportunity to rise above our own needs, to rise above political, social, economic, and language differences--and we are doing so.

Happy Holidays

I am sad to say that I did not spend my winter break well seeing as I was stuck home being sick. The only days I did go out was for Christmas shopping for my family with my boyfriend and even that sucked because the stores are always crowded and for being such a jolly holiday a lot of people are always rushing and being rude. Overall I was really excited for this Christmas because it was going to be the first Christmas I was going to spend with my boyfriend. So Christmas Eve he came over and we ate then opened our president and it was really fun because I got to spend time with my family and loved ones. New years was pretty interesting seeing as my boyfriend was talking I missed when the clock struck 12 but it was okay because at least I got to spend it with him, my family drank glasses of champagne and talked about how this year we would make resolutions that would better ourselves and our life's and the life's of those around us. The last day of my mini vacation I would have to say was the best because I went ice skating with my boyfriend, which was something i had never done and I was glad I could share that experience with him. I wouldn't change a thing about my break I got a good rest, did many fun things and started of my year well.

Stand Up, Speak Out

The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, yet people don’t think that everyone should have equal right such as LGBTQ people. It saddens me how people in the world could be so cruel and vile to one another we are all born equal and shouldn’t be treated in any disrespectful manner. Yet there are people who argue of how God made a woman and a man and that its “disgusting” to have a man with a man or woman with a woman. But yet God would not want us to judge one another this way and mistreat each other. In my school there are many people that I’ve seen mistreat LGBTQ people and are homophobic and it sometimes makes me really depressed because I wish they would not say rude comments about them, they are like everybody else. The problem at my school is mostly boys and I’m guessing it’s because they haven’t reached a level where they have to be mature, but my teacher once told me a story about her sister that was lesbian and that they still teased her in college, so maybe age has nothing to do with this sort of discrimination.

I believe adults are a big problem in this whole situation because they are stuck in their old ways and have this fear of change. In the past year there have been a lot of teenage deaths due to the fact that they were always bullied and discriminated against, and their parents did nothing to help them in any way. The people who pass laws are adults who are practically 60 or even older and they too discriminate against LGBTQ. I believe LGBTQ people should be allowed to have equal rights as any other citizen, they should be able to get married an even serve in the military. I’ve heard of this law called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that was passed in the year 1993 and is barely under the process of being repealed by early 2011. The law made LGBTQ people that joined the army not to speak about their sexual orientation or they would be discharged. Now I ask myself how can people me so mean? But then I find the answer and it is: Fear. People don’t like change they like following the same tradition that have been around hundreds and hundred of years. Why are people afraid of change you ask? Well see when change occurs you really cant tell what the outcome will be, it will either benefit you or not. People don't like not knowing things they like keeping their same routine and order.

This whole topic about discrimination is very hard for me to understand for the reason that I consider myself pan-sexual meaning I really cant tell the difference between gender or race. I'm not completely gender blind like most pan-sexual's claim to be, but I really in honest truth cant tell the difference between a boy or girl. It infuriates me when I see people not treating them with the same respect as everyone else, because I just can not comprehend the difference. Our founding fathers once said that all men are created equal but yet why does not that entitle is to the same rights? LGBTQ people should be given all the same rights any person has such as the right to marry, serve in the military without hiding their sexual orientation. They should have the right to be able to mingle with other people, go to the supermarket, do their laundry, going to eat at restaurants without being looked or judged in a rude manner. I do notice that a couple of kids from the up coming generations are a bit more sympathetic towards LGBTQ people so maybe there is hope for change in todays modern society.

My Time with the USC Anthropology Class

Well what I learned with the students that come every Monday to teach my 2nd period class was mostly review. I did learn a few interesting things that I didn’t know about but other than that I understood what they were talking about and much more. See I am currently taking AP US history at the moment and well my teacher had already reviewed that in the first weeks. Although I am not saying it was a waste of time for me because it was sort of a type of review. But I also learned a new thing which was the gender roles in some tribes and how the women had more power over the men. This topic really fascinated me because back in the day women didn’t really have much power and to see that they did was amazing so I liked learning that, and it was also something new. By the end of the year I am going to take an AP exam which is very important and they are going to test me in everything I have learned from the Native Americans all the way to Jimmy Carter. That’s a lot of information but its good review so it will stay in my mind. So I thank Ms.Erudite for giving me and my class the opportunity to talk to these students.
When the USC students first came they made us do a chart of what we know and want to know. The class and I knew a lot of things of the Indians but of course everyone wanted to build their knowledge and learn more. I had known that the Indians believed in many gods and had many diverse cultures then the Europeans. Columbus was the first to discover the new world he thought he was going to America but in reality he landed in India. The main goal of the Europeans was gold and Mexico had lots and lots of gold.
Now what really fascinated me was the gender roles in most Native American tribes, and how in tribes it was more of a matrilineal sort of thing where the women had more of the power. This I believe is good in a way because there is more peace between the women and men unlike in the modern day United States. There is no need for domestic violence in Indian households because the man has more respect towards the woman. If there were ever to be a divorce the children would stay with the women and her family so the kids would still receive love and care, they wouldn’t be traumatized just because of their parents split. The clan mother is usually the one who decides who the civils are and men are the ones who go out to hunt. It was also interesting to realize how that women homosapians where the first ones to be here rather than men.
Another interesting fact I learned and that I found fascinating was of how the Indian gathered food. How they would build a type of “fort” similar to a way of tide pooling to catch food, it was really smart of the Indian to figure this out and shows how they know how to survive not even needing that many tools or advanced equipment.
I also learned more about the puritans that came to American to set up its colonies in the Mayflower. They came to America to escape persecution and separate themselves from the Church of England because they didn’t think the Church of England was pure enough. Now they did bring their wife’s unlike the Spaniards because they planned to stay there. The Spaniards just came by themselves because most were conquistadores and were there just for resources, gold, and enslavement they didn’t want to live in America. The conquistadores such a Cortes conquered lot of Indian empires like the Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, etc. There were also privateers that I learned were another form of pirates but with contracts, a famous privateer would be Sir France Drake.
I reviewed a lot from my experience with the USC students and learned many new things that were captivating and I enjoyed them coming and building my knowledge and I’m glad that I received this experience because I know most students wouldn’t receive it so I am totally grateful and thankful.

Academic Autobiography

My name is Liberty I am 16 years old and attend West Adams Preparatory High School. I am currently in 11^th grade and have gone through many schools during my academic life. I didn’t attend pre-kinder for the reason that my father thought me being taught social skills was a waste of time. So I never really experienced making cookies, coloring, speaking or socializing with other kids of my age till kindergarten. I attended kindergarten at Lenicia.B Weemes Elementary located at 1260 West 36th Place, Los Angeles, CA. but then later moved to Vermont Avenue Elementary School located at 1435 West 27th Street, Los Angeles, CA to finish grade 1-5. For my junior high experience I walked the halls of James A. Foshay Learning Center located at 3751 South Harvard Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA. Now I am currently attending West Adams Preparatory High School located at 1500 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA where I am a junior, I only have a year left.

       I remember the first time I went to kindergarten; I was really excited that morning. Yes I know you may be wondering what kind of kid wants to go to school especially a small one. But see I always liked reading or writing, it amazed me seeing my sister do such complex problems while I had to sit down and play with insignificant toys and other things. When I got there the first day of school to Weeme’s it wasn’t what I had expected, there were kids crying everywhere with their parents. So I started to panic, was this what every school was like kids whining to their parent to take them back home? My father sat me in a seat and said to stay their till he came for me and follow the teachers instructions I knew not to question him so I sat down even though I was scared with all the crying children around me. My mother told me to make friends and talk to the girls sitting next to me whose eyes were faces were super red from crying and screaming. I remember me telling them that everything was going to be okay and that it was going to be super fun, like the shows Sesame Street and Barney. That didn’t work much but once things settled down the class was having lots fun, I can’t really remember the lesson we did but I remember no one was crying any more and the following week the kids got used to the routine.

        For elementary it was a whole different thing I was actually nervous to go into 1^st grade, my sister had told me we would meet older kids in this grade so of course I got scared. But I really panicked over nothing things were fine throughout my elementary years I remember doing a lot of things such as Halloween one of my favorite holidays. Everyone dressed up and we had a mini parade inviting the parent over to come see all the children’s costumes. My school offered a really good program which was chorus and I was in it, every Friday I would head to the auditorium and would practice singing for the school in the upcoming events. I was a play leader who is someone that watches over the smaller kids like grade 1-3^rd while I was a 5^th grader. I sometimes wish I could go back and stay in elementary because these years in my life were really simple and I enjoyed them. Everyone got along with everyone; no one cared about what you wore, or who you were friends with. I always dreaded graduation I didn’t want to leave my friends but eventually I did and we all grew up and headed to middle school.

        My first day of middle school was one of the most scariest moments in my life I really didn’t know what to expect all I knew that this time I was going have more then one class and I was going to have to find it on my own. The bigger middle school or sometimes high school students, my school was K-12, would always yell mean remarks to me and my peer such as scrubs. They would always tease us on how small we were and utterly lost. So I wouldn’t really say my 6^th grade year was a good one although I did make friends because everyone was so shy and small it was easy to make friends, but they through out middle school we started to grow up and become more confident in our selves. Your social life was more important then your educational one, everything depended on what you were wearing or who you hanged out with. I think this is at the point of my life were I realized where I was becoming big already and was stuck with a bunch of people who were really superficial. But I mean I can’t complain I did meet some pretty awesome people that I will remember for the rest of my life.

   

       When I entered high school I was a bit more prepared I knew we would have multiple classes and well I had to act more mature in a way. But ill admit when I was a freshman at West Adams I was still stuck in middle school mode depending on my friends to help me out in whatever I needed. In the beginning of 10^th grade I started realizing it wasn’t always going to be that way if I wanted or needed something I had to find out a way to do it I was becoming more independent. Now that I am in 11^th grade I realize how my responsibility has increased and I find myself thinking more about my future and what I want to do in life. Its not fun and games anymore I don’t only have to act mature I need to act mature to get through with my education. The transition for middle school to high school was a big one, teachers don’t guide you as much as they used to when you’re small. You learn self discipline, and I still have one more year to go and many more new things to learn that will help me better myself not only right now but in the future.

What It Is To Be An American?

Many people have different views on what is is to be an American some believe it is to be born in the United States or to pertain to the "white race". Everyone has different opinions on what its to be an American, for me it means a variety different things. To be an American truly is a great thing you can be any race as long as your here in America doing what you want and having the American dream you think is for you. American is said to be the land of opportunities where anything is possible, you can achieve anything you want if you work hard enough.

To be an American to me is to have freedom and be able to say or think whatever you want. It means to have a free and good education and not having to work by the age of 12. It means to be given privilege's by the government to do what I wan within good reason and to not break any laws that would hurt society. To be an American is a very good thing seeing as in other countries are very barbaric most of the time with their laws and sometimes exploit their citizens.

 To be an American is being able to live the American dream now many people are skeptical about what the American dream really is. Some may say having a nice house in a good suburban neighborhood with the white picket fence and having a nice husband, wife, kids, dog; basically being stable. For other such as a Latino immigrant per say the American dream is being able to come to American to make enough money to go back to their country, a wealthy person and to take them out of poverty which many of the Latino population suffer in their homeland.

Now me I believe that living the American dream is having a stable job and household, being able to maintain a family. To be an American is to celebrate customs sch as the 4th of July and other celebrations. Or to practice American customs such as barbecues or going to baseball games and Halloween and other customs like that. But then again American is a very diverse country there are many different ethnic groups making it a very rich society. There are many different cultures that any race could learn from, whether is Mexicans earning from Koreans or Guatemalans learning from the Belgians and so on its a endless chain.

In conclusion, to be an American is to have freedom to be able to express yourself in ways that people in other countries cant. You have right that lets say an immigrant wouldn't have, many immigrants come to America for the reason if you are an American you can win good money with a stable job and in other countries they don't offer those type of privileges to just anyone. An American has the chance to be able to go to a university with either a scholarship or loan which as an immigrant isn't entitled to those type of things, that's what I believe it is be an American.

Aint It A Beauty...?

One of the many things i enjoy doing is riding, its the only thing that relieves my stress & worries when i go out to ride i feel so free & happy. I dont wanna whine about all the problems i have because i know for a fact there are other people who have bigger struggles to deal with other then me. Lately ever since i have come back to school things have gotten really difficult, I am currently taking AP history & it is such a hassle for me, but i didnt drop the class when i had the chance too because i know i can do it i just have to set my mind to it. My mom doesnt really understand what AP really is she sees me awake at 11 o'clock in the night and starts hassling me telling me why i didnt finish my homework earlier, she doesnt know that ive been working on the homework for hours but its just that it so much and takes time. Point being i bought this bike a few months ago, it was pretty cheap a solid 160 dollars and its in perfect condition. I wish i could ride it more often but since i dont have time i dont get to but i mean when i do its beyond great :)