My Aunt Mary

First of all, my Aunt Mary would have to be my Grandma on my mom's side.  She is my favorite older relative, and she means a lot to me.  She is currently in her older 70s and is going strong.  She is not really into new technology, and would have no idea on what a Myspace or Facebook is.  It would be very difficult for my Grandma to navigate and know how to work Myspace or Facebook.

Dear Grandma,

Social networks have become very popular in the world of technology.  Social networks are websites where someone can connect with other people sharing personal or professional interests with one another.  When you say you want a "MyFace" do you mean a Myspace or a Facebook?  This is very important because the two social networks are a lot different than you would think.  Myspace is more known for people who are still in grade school or people who are over the age of 30.  Facebook is more generalized towards high school and college students.  People who recently graduate from Facebook usually still use it to communicate with former classmates.  So for you Grandma, I would suggest Myspace.  Another reason for you to use Myspace is because my mom has it and she could also help you out if there are any questions you need answered.  

Myspace has a lot to do with creating your own background, creating your own music soundtrack, and creating bulletin announcements.  Myspace helps a lot when searching for friends with the special advanced search tool that lets you search for people by specific characteristics.  Myspace is also known for first introducing the "Top Friends" part of social networking.  Top Friends are a list where you put your favorite friends in order of how you like them.  For an example, if you joined Myspace, I would have you, my mom, Nicole, and Sean as my top four friends.

Facebook is more used for writing comments and posting picture comments on someone's wall.  A wall is the name for the page where somebody can write comments to the person.  Facebook is also known for first introducing applications and tagging photos.  The main applications that I have on my profile are: Detroit Sports, Michigan State Spartans Basketball, and Sports Betting.  Tagging photos means to describe who is in the photo that you took.  An example would be if you took a picture of my whole family at a family party, you could take Sean, Deb, Ron, and myself.

Good luck with your process of creating your own Myspace and you know that I am only a call away if you need me.  If you want to start living more with technology then you could even e-mail me.  That is a whole another story though. Just kidding with you Grandma!  Tell Grandpa I said hi!

Love Your Favorite Grandson,

Eric

TV Concerns

When I was growing up, I watched a lot of TV.  I mostly enjoyed nickelodeon and different cartoons.  I did however, have some restrictions on what TV programs I watched.  My parents were very generous on what I watched, but there were some programs what I couldn't watch.  The main shows that people my age couldn't watch were: The Simpsons, South Park, and WWF Wrestling.  These shows are the shows I watched the most especially WWF.  From what I remember, the shows that I couldn't watch were Howard Stern and any rated R movies that were played on TV.  Television was seen as both harmful and annoying.  Parents were worried that what their children watched on TV would result on actions that they would do in real life.  But at the same time, television was seen as annoying with the trends that were being started and sayings that were being said in the TV shows.  An example of this would be South Park and the saying, "Oh my God!  You killed Kenny!"  TV was also seen as educational with the shows like Mr. Dressup, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and Sesame Street.  My parents attitude and tastes towards television has very much had a lot to do with what television I watch.  The television programs that I watch are mostly sports, King of Queens, and The Simpsons.

I believe that people worry about many different things in relation to television.  The main aspect I believe people worry about is the language that is used in television now.  It is very hard to find a television program that doesn't have at least one swear word in it per episode.  I start to see now how before the program starts, there is a warning on what age groups should be watching this certain show.  Another symbol that is used is usually in the top left corner of the TV screen that shows the different age groups.  Another worry about television is the violence that is used.  A lot of shows have guns, knifes, swords, and other weapons that could be dangerous.  The programs show a lot of detail which could make parents upset.  An example of detail would be blood when somebody is stabbed with a knife in a TV program.  

Overall, I believe TV has a lot to do with the way people look at the world and reality.  There are a lot of violent and dangerous television shows but at the same time, there are a lot of educational and fun television programs that people enjoy watching.

Wikipedia Discussion

I chose to read a Wikipedia article on the Detroit Lions.  I thought the discussion part of this topic was very interesting and important.  The reason I thought this was because there was arguments about the content that is on the page.  Somebody by the name of TomCat4860 keeps getting his information erased.  He is trying to explain why his content is very useful for the page and doesn't understand on why his information is getting deleted.  He believes that the information he is using for TV and Radio hasn't been written yet, and needs to be put in the article.  TomCat then has another comment on the discussion part of the site that is sort of a threat.  He explains that he contacted Wikipedia about his content being erased and that they are watching the site for any vandals.  He then asks if anyone agrees with him to contact administration to help out his cause so that this doesn't happen again.

The content for this discussion page doesn't center around the content of the article.  I believe that if somebody has a problem with the page, then they should contact the administration like he did but he did it after two posts.  Nobody wants to read someone complaining about something when they are looking for information or discussion about a certain topic.  I believe the article should be left the same but the discussion board isn't being used what it is supposed to be used for.  The discussion board should be used to talk about a topic and not complain about it.  Reading this discussion board has changed my opinion on the reliability of Wikipedia.  I don't like how any information can be deleted even if it is good information about the topic.  If I worked hard to put information on a specific topic and somebody deleted it, I would be upset.  So I believe the reliability of Wikipedia isn't as strong as I thought it was.