My FINAL POST!!

I will honestly say that English 108 (take 2) was the most enjoyable class I've taken at Purdue. I have this cocky notion that I probably will never use any of the education I've received in college after I graduate, but this class might just have some use.

Technology is an ever evolving thing, and I have to say this class did a great job in making itself relevant to today's society. Especially with my last essay, I wasn't only writing a paper, but I was somewhat planning my future at the same time.

It's rare that I actually want to show up for class, but somehow, someway I managed to show up (most of the time) quite cheerfully and ready to engage in the day's activities.

Not to suck up or anything, but:

Thanks Laura for making this class worthwhile.

FIN

I'm OUT!!

Our final paper.

Well, this is going to be a busy summer for me. Hopefully I'm getting an internship in the 2008 Olympics in China. I also might continue to write for the Exponent and so on.

What does all this have to do with anything? Jobs.

Soon enough, I'll have to throw myself into this harsh world and make a living for myself, and honestly I am completely grateful of the websites I listed in my essay. At the very least it gives me a place to start.

I predict that I'll probably use the sites to find my first job. And I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't the only one in the class that will use job-hunting websites in their employment endeavors.

I GOT AN IPHONE!!!

Well, in my previous post I confessed my inner nerd. And with this iPhone I can now pronounce it to the world. Honestly, it's probably one of the coolest gadgets I'll ever have. Being able to check my email every 11 seconds is definitely not a life or death matter, but it sure beats playing sudoku every class. But anyways, a couple of things I really enjoy about this wonderful little piece of technology I nicknamed "mobile internet".

Youtube: I can watch videos anywhere I go!

Weather: Pretty handy to know how cold it is, i guess.

And

Google Maps: It is immensely satisfying to be sitting in ENAD, and to find some satellite image of where you are. Fascinating.

Yes you can do all these things on a laptop with a wireless connection, but the fact that this small little device is able to provide so much information at your fingertips is amazing. I predict implants very soon.

So I'm a geek, nerd whatever you want to call it. I subscribe to PC Mag, and I jump in joy when the sleek laminated cover appears before my eyes when I open my mailbox.

A recent issue had an article that immediately caught my attention.

"Hacking Hannah Montana"

What was this about?

So you know when you sign up for something on a website, whether it be some new user account or something of the sort, and they present this mumbled jumbled letters and numbers where you have to retype into some open field box to prove you're human?

Guess what, some company has cracked this, and that product is being used everywhere by ticket sellers. So pretty much, Hannah Montana tickets were sold out within 3 minutes of their posting online because of this technology. Crime pays well huh? Well apparently there's going to be a lawsuit and now security experts have to devise a new way to prove someone is human. I fear that they'll find nothing.

Hmm, I'm going to enjoy making fun of this one.

"Salam Dear Friend,

I am pleased to introduce a business opportunity to transfer to your overseas account the sum of($10.3 USD)Ten million Three hundred thousand United States Dollars from Bank Of Africa Dakar Senagal.

I am Mr Abdullah Ali, the Auditor General of Bank Of Africa here in Dakar Senegal during the course of our auditing , I discovered a floating funds in an account opened in our bank since 1992 and till date no body has operated on the account and after going through old files in the records , I
discovered that the owner of the account died long ago in a plane crash along with his family without leaving a[Heir/WILL], hence the floating of the funds and if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing.

The owner of the account was a foreigner , Mr Hazim Ibrahim From Elexandria Egypt,He deals on Export and Buying of Gold and Diamond.

Therefore ,with a personal conviction of trust and confidence ,I wish to contact you as a foreigner , I am here to work out the release of the funds, No other person in the office knows about the account , please be assured of the risk free , I'm the one that will work it out , all I need is your
cooperation because the account content can not be approved to an indigen here as his next of kin .

At the conclusion of this project , I propose a joint investment of an equal partnership to you or we may share it in a ratio of 45% for you and 55% for me.

One more thing please; I beg you don't consider this against moral justification , they are many other aspects of life we may contribute with this funds to help the less privileged and the needy in a society than having it shared as an unclaimed bill among Government PLEASE .

I look forward to your earliest response

Regards.
Mr Abdullah Ali."

Well first of all, whatever stupid website that sold my email address, I present my one finger salute. But now an analysis of this lovely email.

I am extremely glad I'm not 20 years older and stupid. But apparently this email targeted 40-50 year olds and has managed to scam thousands of people. How can someone be so stupid as to believe any of this crap?

Spam has gotten out of hand. Previously, I only had to deal with various male genitalia enhancements, but now these people want my pity? It amazes me how some people in this world have lost even the smallest sense of decency. The scary thing about this is, some of these letters ask the people to fly out to some African country to "pick up" their reward, only to find themselves dragged into some desert and shot. Yes people have been killed by this scam. Sigh.

Ah, our 5-8 minute presentation.

Well I guess to summarize my thoughts on social networking in general.

Why?

I definitely see the need, and the usefulness, but today's "children" are completely overdoing it. I signed up for facebook early on just to see if I could find some of my old elementary and middle school friends. To my pleasant surprise I did. It should've ended there. Facebook gave me an avenue to contact them, not that I really had any reason to do so, but sure that was a nice bonus. Fine and dandy.

But, when they implemented that news feed bullshit, that's when I started getting really angry. Yes, angry. I had dim-wittedly forgot to uncheck the email notifications in the options, and apparently everytime someone did something that had even anything to do with me, I'd get a flood of notifications.

"OMG!!! BLAH BLAH ADDED YOU IN THIS GROUP INVITE INVITE TAKE THIS SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!!!'

GAAAH!

I don't want to know this, I don't want to be added, in fact how about this. Cancel facebook. But wait! I can't!!. I am now forever a slave to this community that I really don't want to be a part of.

People, stop living your lives on a f*cking webpage. Go do something meaningful, have dinner with a friend or something old school like that.

Annotated bibliographies bring me back. Way back.

I remember first encountering them in 9th grade. My first impression? Why am I doing work for the teacher?

I love English, I love writing, in fact I aspire to use my writing to make a living in the future. How successful I'll be is another topic. Anyways, back to annotated bibs. So let's set up the scenario.

Teacher assigns paper.

Teacher requires XXX sources.

You find XXX sources.

You incorporate XXX sources into paper.

Teacher grades paper.
(now right here) Teacher determines if you use your sources well.

SEE??

It's like, doing extra work that should be delegated to the teacher in the first place!

just joking.