Osama

Being the wife of Airman I was really excited to hear the news that we had found Osama Bin Laden and had killed him. I know that the death of any human being should not bring another human the feeling of joy. After I thought about all that had happen I began to feel really bad for being happy over his death. I know he was evil….well to Americans he was evil….I know he did bad things and caused the death of a lot of people. However despite these facts for some reason I feel that he deserved a trial. If we couldn’t give him that…and we had to kill him…I feel we should have a least given his body back to his family…not dumped it in the ocean. I dont want to offend anyone…God knows I love this country and our military…but I also believe in compassion. Despite his wrong doings he was someones father, someones son, someones friend. I would have like to see the US be the bigger person and allow the man to be buried. For all we know he could have made his peace with God in the hours before the attack. Besides that who are we judge?

Bird Video 2

Getting Over My Internet Fears

Having had to create so many new accounts because of this class has really helped me get over my fear of being stalked by Internet scum. I have begin an active user of Ebay and also signed up to pay some of my bills online. I am still oober careful about talking to people and will not be joining any internet chat rooms but hey it is a start.

End Of Semester

Well it is that time…end of semester. This is the hardest part of any class. It seems once you finally get comfortable the semester ends and all the apprehension comes back because you don’t know what the next class holds for you. This class has been great. I had a wonderful time getting to know everyone. D. I really helped us get to know the internet better and helped us get more comfortable being apart of the virtual world. I hope to have other classes that are this good. I feel like I have learned so much!

Group Project

Our final group project involved the whole class. We decided that it would be a good idea to each screencast a tutorial for a Web 2.0 tool we found interesting. After we were finished we created an account on YouTube and combined our screencast to create a channel. This project was fun and also informative. I had never used a screencasting program but wanted to learn how. This is something I will definitely use in the future. To view our channel click here.

Fun Team Project

For my fun team project I participate in a spoof of the show Top Chef with several of my classmates. To complete the project we each recorded a video of ourselves creating a dish…from there we uploaded the video so that the next person could add to it. In the end we come up with a fabulous product. This project was so much fun and really helped us gain more experience with creating videos, and posting them on the internet. You can view our project by clicking the play button below.

Serious Team Project

For my serious team project I collaborated with Jennifer and Amanda and we created a website on Google Sites dedicated to internet safety. Building the site helped us practice the skills we have learned this semester as well as helped us reach out to others and inform them of proper internet behavior. We all felt that internet safety is a subject that should be discussed more. Perhaps even in a classroom form to students who are coming into high school. You can visit our site here.

Individual Project

For my individual project I decided to join the site MapSkip because I had ran across it in an article I had read. Having spent a lot of time exploring tools and social networking sites this semester I also thought it would be a good way to expand on the things I had learned. According to the sites creator “our world is a canvas for our pictures and stories” and MapSkip is the site that allows that canvas to be shared with other people around the world. Using the site is really simple and fun. After you join the site…providing your name, and email address, and creating a username and password you are ready to read the stories other people have posted about different places around the world. You can share you own stories as well as pictures that you have taken of your featured location.
I really loved this site….the stories people told made me feel like I was actually there and gave me ideas for future travel. Being a small town girl I have never really had the chance to travel a lot. My husband was in the military and I lived through the stories he told me about the places he had been. A lot of time those places were not vacation spots that I would have liked to go. On this site however people share the best of their travel experiences. For instance one user shared a story about a small intimate restaurant in a historic building in Italy. The user described the atmosphere as being from a time when the world was slower and life had meaning. She talked about the building and its significance and also informed us that it was haunted by its former master. The user posted a picture of the building and it looked just like what I expected it to look like after reading her description. Story telling is something that people just don’t seem to have time for anymore because life is so fast paced…this site breathes new life into the art of storytelling and creates a community type environment that I associate with a Native American tribes sitting around fire pits and listening to their elders tell stories.
For a lot of people sharing stories and experience with others isn’t easy because of the fear of not being taken seriously or looking stupid. This site allows people to share their love of travel with others while being able to hide behind a username. I for one am not a fan of having to share personal information with other so you can imagine my delight when I didn’t have to use my real name. Being able to use whatever user name I wanted also added to the magic of the site. I could be whoever I wanted to be while describing the beauty of places I have been lucky enough to see. For anyone that has a love of reading, of being taken to another place and another time through written word, this site is a must. Even if you don’t post anything yourself join to read what others have posted and view the pictures they have submitted. Contributing to this site and experiencing other peoples life through this site has become such a rewarding hobby for me. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I have.

Bird Watching

Putting An Infant In The Bed

Well I am the first in my family to have a child…my sister gave birth 6 weeks after me…and no one really told me what to expect or gave me a list of things not to do. So naturally I think I have done everything you shouldnt do and am paying big time. First let me start by saying when the doctor looks at you says..”you cant spoil an infant so hold her as much as she needs you to” run like heck the other way because your doctor is a nut case. I did exactly this and now my little girl cannot sit more than 5 min. by herself before she starts throwing a fit to be held. She is now three months old and I am finding it more and more difficult to do the little things that need to be done with her on my hip all the time. The second thing I did not realize is that once you put your baby in the bed with you…they never leave. Ady didnt like the crib when I first brought her home and she would cry the whole time I left her in it. I felt bad because the doctor said that the cry it out method is out dated and shouldnt be done…infants need to be cuddled. Well naturally I thought she was lonely and didnt like to be by herself so I started sleeping with her. This was a huge mistake…and again I say…if your doctor tell you this RUN! My reason for sharing my parenting mishaps is that I figure I am not the only one to start off rocky with a first child…I am really hoping that someone has some good advice or tips for getting my baby out of my bed and helping her be a self soother.