Kaycee Nicole: This blog talks about the fictional character that drew people's emotions to a peak and then shattered them.

Is gender necessary...?: In here I cover whether gender specific characters are neccesary in IF games.

Blogging Therapy: This blog talks about how I feel blogging can be therapuetic and very helpful to you.

And the biggest bloggerse are...: Here I discuss what statistics have shown about who blogs the most.

Blogs and Reality TV: This shows my views on their similarities and differences.

Literature in a Weblog: Here I wrote about my opinion that weblogs can be the best kind of literature.

Wiki....News?: In this blog, I discuss the development of Wikipedia into a news source and my views on it.

Blogging and it's many aspects: Here I talked about the different types of blogs that exist.

We're Watching Basketball: Here I basically talked about the basketball I can't wait to watch

What's really going on in my cat's head?: This was Stef's blog that I commented on about how she wants to know what her cat thinks.

My new goal: This was Vanessa's blog on how she wanted to be one of the people on the website or any literary production out of this school. I commented on this and wished her well.

Make a paper airplane: Vicki's blog about the project Dr. Jerz sprung on us. I commented on my difficulties with making an airplane

Basketbrawl????: This is my blog on the fight at the Pistons-Pacers game that just threw me for a loop.

I also don't think that blogs should strictly be academic or professional or what not. Teenagers who blog are finding a much better way of dealing with life than some. These teenagers that blog, are turning to writing instead of drugs and alcohol and I truly believe that. While older people may not want to read that, it is still an important time in our lives and maybe someone who skims a blog written by a distraught teenager can help. Blogs give us a chance to create online relationships, and by relationships I mean people we connect to through different topics of conversation. Not neceassarily a relationship that has to be romantic or even one that requires seeing a certain person all the time or even ever. Blogging gives us the freedom to rant and rave and post our opinions and argue over whatever the topic is that day. As long as you do it intelligently, you'll have no problem. You will see a blogging community include you into discussions and what not and it could act like a home away from home.

Blogs are wonderful things and everyone should have one. I think that blogging is a very therapeutic way of relieving stress. It is also just nice to converse with other people and have intelligent conversations. Conversations, we might not have face to face with the people we see everyday. It's something that gives you the freedom to speak your mind and a freedom to grow as a writer, a debator, and a person. Growing as a person is the most important. So keep on blogging.

The people that don't consider blogs to be literature make me think. Do they actually know what literature is? According to dictionary.com, literature has several meanings. However there is one that supports all of them. Literature is imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value. Now some may say that the writings in our blogs do not have recognized artistic value, they are wrong. Each and everyone of us has great respect for the blogs that we read and comment on. This makes them recognized in artistic value by us.

One reason they say it can not be considered literature is because it may not be factual. If memory serves, Huckleberry Finn is considered a great literary masterpiece and it is not factual. Blogs are entertaining as most literature should be. Blogs can be some of the greatest pieces of literature if we would just give them a chance and not write them off as someone's online diary because not everyone's is going to be like that.

Here's the article that got this discussion started, read it!
So give blogs a chance to be great literary works. Who knows we might have another Huck Finn in the making!

IF games are all about the storyline and what is happening to the player, not whether the player is a girl wearing a pink froo-froo dress or a guy wearing a black suit and tie. With gender not being referenced, people start to, you guessed it, assume the gender of who they are playing. Most characters are supposed to be male and to me that makes complete sense. Honestly now, how many times do you see a girl playing these games? I don't see it very often. However, I do not like when you get half way through a game and the gender is never specified, so you have your feelings on who you are and then BAM, they say your a guy. That sucks!! I can't remember what game that happened on, but if I find it or remember, I'll let you know.

I personally, always think I'm playing a guy unless otherwise told. I'm not even sure why. It largely depends on the style of writing. You can tell by reading papers, if they were written by a girl or by a guy. This is a definite clue in for me on my IF gender, but then again, I can be wrong.

So while gender doesn't seem to be a big issue in IF, don't let yourself get stressed over trying to figure it out or if they surprise a gender on you in the middle. Just remember....it's only a game....and gender isn't really necessary in IF games.

The thought of creating a fictional character never crossed my mind. While, I realize the emotional bonds that were created through this "lie," I can't help but think of how cool this really is. The research that Debbie, the author, must have done is mind boggling. In order to pretend to be a leukemia patient, you would have to do so much research.

While I completely disagree with the emotional strain it put on people when "Kaycee" died, I find this to be such an interesting thing. So many people got attached to this and believed that this person was real and was putting her pain and her trials out there for everyone to benefit from. It is things like this that show you the two dramatics of people today. On one end of the spectrum, you have those people who genuinely cared about this girl they thought was dying from leukemia. None of them knew her personally but they fell in love, if you will, with her and her story of trials and tribulations as she battled this disease. Then on the other end, you have Debbie, who deceived so many people for so long. This occurrence showed us the drastic differences in how the human mind works and how our emotions can get be preyed on by others.

Very odd, very odd indeed. But also really creative!!! :)
Moira's blog had a good entry about this, check it out

After hearing about the suspensions of several NBA players from both teams, I was again just in awe. These are people who are being payed a ton of money to play a sport that they love and are good at. Why the hell are they fighting with fans? I understand completely that Ron Artest was hit was something, that was plainly obvious. I guess I just don't understand why someone with so much fame and fortune would give a rat's ass about a person who is disrespectful to others and someone who they will probably never come in contact with again. People need to learn some self control, myself included. While I would never attack another person, I am always spreading myself to thinly and expecting myself to accomplish these impossible tasks. People of today need to learn to just sit back and let it roll off their backs and realize that not everything has to be solved with violence and also that you do not have to solve everything.

Some people may think that this could have been a publicity stunt, I personally do not think that, but some might. I don't really see why Ron Artest, who stands to lose the most, would ever do something like this for publicity. Artest was suspended for an entire season without pay, losing almost $5 million dollars.

This may be something I pick up on more because of my friends, who are basketball players and have this same short temper or if I am completely wrong, but I notice that athletes have a shorter temper than most. In Artest's case, there is the possibility that he was stressed or rundown and just snapped. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not condoning this type of behavior. I feel people in the spotlight need to be extra careful because their actions are more closely watched and analyzed. I do think that getting hit with the cup of beer or whatever it was, set him and off he over-reacted.

I can see where this is going to be a topic of debate and controversy and everything else for a long time to come. I'm in utter shock that this happened and feel that both parties, NBA stars and fans, should be punished and not based on their ranking in society. They should be punished equally and with no breaks. What do you think???

Wikipedia as an encyclopedia that you can change if something is inaccuarte or whatever the case may be is a great thing in my opinion. Alright let's say they get the news out, but someone doesn't agree with whatever is being said and changes it. Then it isn't the news anymore, it is someone's opinion. Not particularly factual anymore. If they remove the section where you can change the information given, then it isn't a Wiki anymore. For it to be Wikinews, it has to be able to be changed right? I really feel it is a lose-lose situation. I could be wrong though.

When you think of things like this most would think that these two groups would do the most writing on the web in general. I mean for teenage girls, it is a place where they can talk about their day or what is happening in their life, whether in a blog or in something like a live journal. Either way, they are getting out there and they are writing. Teenage boys would rather be out with friends and get into tons of trouble. They don't want to sit down and write about what's going on.

Now for adult males, I can't say I'm surprised by that either. I mean when your an adult you have many more responsibilites. Especially if you are an adult women. You have to take care of the kids, clean, cook and if you have an actual job, that too. Males, not so much. They don't usual cook or clean. They seem to have more free time than women. I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, that is just how i see it. I really think this is the reason that adult men blog more. Of course it is different from the teenage girls blogging. They are gonna talk about their job and maybe their family life.

I just thought this was interesting. Maybe it wasn't. Oh well!!

I am ecstatic that the Lakers will begin playing again. I love the Lakers. Although I am a little skeptical of how well their team will do this year. After losing Shaq and several other key players from last season, and leaving Kobe as the only player I really recognize, (but I don't pay much attention to names, so what do I know) I wonder how well the Lakers will adjust. I'm rooting for you all the way!!!

I must say though I am way more excited for college basketball. I'm not sure why but I have always enjoyed those games so much more. Who am I rooting for? PENN STATE!!! But yeah we all know they probably won't make it to the final 32, so here’s the list of the other college teams, I want to see go far this year. First we have Penn State Nittany Lions, I think mostly because I grew up knowing of Penn State and watching them, that that is the reason they are one. Then we have Pitt Panthers. Pitt holds the same reasoning. For the following teams, I really don't have a solid reason for loving these teams. I just do and I about had an aneurism last year during the finals games, ask anyone in my family. It was scary. Ok anyways next there is Oklahoma State Cowboys, Kentucky Wildcats, Boston College Eagles, and Arizona Wildcats. YEAH BUDDY!! I can not wait until these games start on ESPN. Most of them won’t show, but that’s why the internet is so great. I can check on Yahoo like always.

Anybody wanna watch some b-ball with me let me know. I try and watch as much as I can!!!

Visual Blogs: In regards to the blog about Visual blogs, I must say I agree. It’s always nice to look at pictures and see visuals on things that you are reading. However, if you’re looking at a blog, you should mostly be reading it, not looking at all these images. For me, a blog is where you take time out to write about certain topics. While pictures may help get the point across, words are what is needed in today’s society. I feel people rely too much on images. Looking at an image can only get you so far. It can’t describe to you, in detail, what the artist was thinking or what he meant by that particular image. This is where the all-important words come in. Personally, in my opinion, an all visual blog would not be interesting to me. I enjoy reading people’s blogs and reading what they have to say about certain things. If all someone’s blog is, is pictures, it takes away all the fun of reading their viewpoint and imaging what voice or tone they meant certain words in. With pictures you can’t get that. I personally haven’t come across any blogs with pictures. I might have to search Google, and see what comes up!

Imagined Community of Instant Publishing: I didn’t really understand this blog. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m sick and tired from it or what. If someone could comment and give me a quick rundown on it or something, I’d really appreciate it.

Academic Weblog Community: This blog talked about the select few who are very dedicated bloggers. I’m sad to say that I am not one of them. Dr. Jerz talked about how only 5% of the SHU blogging community is active and makes up 50% of the activity. I try to blog, honest. I have a really hard time with blogging, because to me, blogging is supposed to be intelligent. It’s not supposed to be a rundown of my day. That’s what my online journal is for. I also a really hard time finding intelligent topics to blog about. I plan on posting one soon, on a topic that will hopefully create some friendly stir. When it comes to the different categories of bloggers, I completely agree. You have some that may fit into a poetry writing blog or a short story blog. Then you have people like me. I don’t really have a category, I blog on what interests me. I think I may have been one of the select few to blog about the death of Christopher Reeve, because that interested me. I love to write, but posting things I wrote is not something I want to do. I like my blog being up in the air. I mean I never know what the next thing I’ll blog about is going to be. To me, that makes blogging even more exciting and makes me want to find more time to blog in.

Blogging is cool, no matter how you do it. Keep blogging!!!

The comparison to MTV's "The Real World," game me a little more insight to the idea of how blogs can be viewed as mini reality shows. When Dr. Jerz brought up soap operas, that too gave me more of an idea of how these all are linked. We all want to know a little bit more about people, that is why we read blogs and watch "The Real World" and other shows like it. We watch these shows so we can find someone who has had a worse day than we did.

When it comes to comparing blogs, soap operas and reality tv, we see that without proper content none of them would be anything of interest. They all need to contain the proper content or all of these would fall by the way side

Coverage:
*9-11 and the Web: This panel showed how the internet and blogging became an outlet for many people to show their anger and sufferings to a certain group of people.
*What a weird word...: During this panel we learned about Wiki's and how the are created.
*Add a little of this...: This is where we learned how to spice up our blogs with color and different fonts. This helped us each show our personality through our blog.
*Is it wrong or right?: This panel discussed file sharing. During class we got into a rather large discussion about the principle of sharing files on the Internet but we were cut short because of time. This was our way of getting what we felt out for to our classmates.
*Who Knew...?: During this panel we talked about Interactive Fiction. We actually got the oppurtunity to play a few games, and this is my reflection on IF.
*The Weblog Handbook: This is the first book we read. It gave us the basics on blogging.
*Hot Hot Text: This was the second book. This book gaves us tips that aided in creating our newsletter.
*Writing For The Web: The third book we read that described to us techniques, we as bloggers, could use to keep people interested in what we are writing.

Depth:

*Who Knew...? : Here I discuss the interesting world of Interactive Fiction
*Is it wrong or right?: Here I talk about File Sharing and the ethics that go along with that
*Add a little of this...: In this blog, I talk about how you go about spicing up your blog

Interaction and Discussion

*I'm so disgusted: This blog talks about an activity that angered me a little
*Is it wrong or right...?: File sharing and ethics
*9-11 and the Web: The role of the web after 9-11
Xenoblogging

*Stefanie Robb: In this blog, I explained about my live journal and the differnce if has when compared to a blog
*Victoria Mara: In this blog, I commented on a poem she put in by Shel Silverstein
*Vanessa Kolberg: Here, I commented on a question posted by Vanessa about thinking.

Wild Card:

*A Tribute: This was my tribute to Christopher Reeve. I truly think he was an exceptional human being and I was very sad to see that he had passed.

The one part I really enjoyed was the link to the remembrance of the event. It is always nice to get another viewpoint on something as impacting as 9-11. I also enjoyed the section where Ryan talked about the pre-9-11 warnings. I, myself, am torn between believing that there were warnings to these attacks that could have saved several hundreds, even thousands, of lives.

I was upset because this presentation was cut short, but the information Ryan did cover was done very well. I'm pleased to see people taking a stand and voicing there opinion on such an important issue.

When I have to write papers, I usually clump things from the same source together, given that it makes sense, so I don't have to site numerous times. On the Internet, I find myself looking for words I can link to. This is definitly not something I thought I would ever do.

Basically, Writing For The Web, re-explained to me how to write for the Internet. There aren't really a lot of factors, it's just that you need to make sure you complete them or people may not want to read what you have to say. These certain components are:
-Chunking. People don't like to see one long paragraph. Make several smaller paragraphs, so people feel comfortable reading it.
- Don't drag on and on and on. People don't like to sit and read fourteen pages that basically reiterate the same point.
-Use bulleted lists. This will better help people get the basics and give them less reading to do. Remember people are lazy.
-Make sure you know what kind of audience you are trying to reach. Don't write for children if you want adults to be your audience and vice versa.
-Links! Use plenty of links. They help you get your point across without having to type it word for word. Link a certain word to a page and the reader can click that link if they want further information.

All three books I have blogged about, The Weblog Handbook, Hot Text and Writing for the Web, have been extremely helpful in turning me into a better Internet writer. I hope they will do the same for you.

Ok, quick overview. A Wiki is kind of like a webpage of information but people can go in and add or change something that may not be correct. Don't take my definition as being a good one. Check my fellow classmate, Michael's blog.

Anywho, we went in and played around with them. Since, I haven't had a lot of free time, I haven't been able to really go in and look at a lot of Wikis but I fully intend too. This is something that can aid people and I can help by adding something or changing wrong information. Don't know about the rest of you but that is definitly something I want to do.