Internet Grammar

It's hard for me to believe that I have been writing on the Internet for ten years, and using it for longer than that. I can still remember the first time I used the Web at my then local library, and wondering how this text based medium could ever catch on (Yahoo was, after all, sending me in circles at the time). I remember the first computer my family owned that had a color screen and actually used graphics that looked like photos (instead of something that had been created with a monotone LiteBright) and how dial up that took forever. I remember teaching myself how to write html using an online tutorial, writing my first piece of fanfiction, frequenting forums, posting to several Yahoo Groups that also had weekly chats, and a few years later discovering what a blog is. Anything that was written about the internet five years ago (let alone ten years ago!) is ancient history, and apparently there is next to no one writing about grammar on the internet. When I think about it, this makes sense, I mean why should we? We are living it, we know it backwards and forwards, why spend your time writing or reading about it? The rules will be rewritten next week. Still, for the purpose of discussion, I will outline three types of online writing that I am very familiar with… categories of Internet grammar, if you will. As the Internet has evolved, the number and types of activities that surfers can enjoy has gotten much broader, creating there is a wide spectrum of writing formality that is utilized when writing in these environments.

Chat
Ten years ago, Abdullah pointed out that the Internet was being used for “e-mail, chats, Web-based discussions and SMS messages is marked by features of both informal speech and formal writing, a host of text-based icons and acronyms for managing social interaction, and changes in spelling norms” (Impact). In reality, the use of grammar (or lack thereof) takes place in a much broader range of settings now. The most informal writing, chat, can be found in chat rooms, instant messages, comments to articles, blogs, and on MySpace, and in the interaction of players of MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). Here is where grammar in the traditional sense is often thrown out the window. Chatters use acronyms (that often greatly depend on the content they are discussing), omit periods and commas, and spelling is often butchered (sometimes on purpose). In this environment it is still rude to type with the caps lock turned on—unless of course you meant to yell—and no one is going to correct your grammar.

It is true that a lot of these chatters are very young, still in junior high or high school, but just as many of them are college students, adults with a steady income, or middle aged individuals that started playing games on their computers before games even had graphics. In this environment it’s okay to use the English language in creative ways that would make your teacher pull his or her hair out, and use code words from inside jokes that are shared by millions. Conversations can be hard to follow for the uninitiated because the pace is so fast and the topic is changed so frequently. The acronyms can also be intimidating at first, because there are so many to learn and remember, some with multiple variations that are accepted, some that make absolutely no sense whatsoever, and some spellings that make the new version of the word longer than the original, correct one. In this world Chuck Norris is often worshiped as a god and everything could always use—nay, needs—more cowbell.

It’s a widely held opinion that so much violence and bad grammar can’t be good for developing minds, but here is the Internet grammar that “ the past distinctions between writing and talking” (Electronic Discourse). With these types of media individuals can discuss topics more openly than in RL (a.k.a. Real Life), interact with citizens of other countries instantly, and have to navigate the difficulties that can be caused by not being able to hear tone and intonation (which is where smiley faces come in so handy). These interactions and shared experiences can seem more real than those in RL, but they are in a compartment of their own, along with the bad grammar that is used. Some are concerned about “how effectively students can communicate meaning using the situational rhetoric of written talk, the conventions of which differ noticeably from those of traditional academic writing” (Electronic Discourse), but people who frequently interact in this way understand that it is a separate sphere than in other areas or the internet, face to face conversations, and certainly won’t be using the lingo in their schoolwork.

Blogs, Forums, Fanfiction
A more formal usage of Internet grammar is the English found in most blogs and forums. Here writers can journal, write about what they are reading, writing, or experiencing in their life, report news, share information on any topic under the sun, support others, receive reciprocal advice, and sometimes connect with like-minded people to meet in person. Forums can still contain smiley faces and acronyms, but “the malleable nature of electronic text has made the physical process of composing more 'elastic' in that writers are quicker to commit thought to writing and to reorganize content because it is simple to make changes on the electronic screen” (Impact). The style of writing is more formal, yet still retains the personal touch. Using proper grammar is very important in this category. Some other forms of communication that can also fall under this heading are virtual work-related board meetings and advice sites where anyone can post answers to questions or reviews of products.

Similarly, the Internet has enabled writers of fiction to have their work read and critiqued in a way that never would have been possible otherwise. Fanfiction is stories written by fans of books, television programs, and movies. These works cannot be legally published for profit and usually contain a disclaimer to this effect. The writers don’t own the content they are extrapolating upon, but they have been inspired by the original work and are respectfully giving the characters (often along with some new ones) their own voice. To be honest, some fanfiction out there is horrible and isn’t worth reading because of the bad grammar and lack of plot, but on the other hand some of it is so good that it could be published and is popular enough that the writer would be considered successful. Beginning and Intermediate writers can gain experience using the resources the Internet provides. Alongside this are the more experienced writers who are writing original works and are self-publishing their stories in book form, promoting their work in new ways, or who are writing non-fiction.

Formal Articles and Research
This last category of Internet grammar is one that all good college attending report writers are familiar with. The most formal writing online is in the form of published articles from journals that cover a wide array of topics, including medical, literary, and technical. If the researchers are very lucky they can find the sources they need with the quality of information that is quote worthy by using the correct database or online encyclopedia. When these sources fail a student they can turn to professionally written news articles and blogs, where the writers usually have an editor and have spent a lot of time performing their own research. After that there are resources such as Wikipedia, which can be very helpful, but theoretically anyone can edit the entries so the sources may not always be reliable. In all reality most of these reports are merely an online copy of something that was published by the government or in a magazine, but more and more are being written with the sole intent of being used online.

The Future of Internet Grammar
As we continue experiencing the changes of the twenty-first century, technology and the way that it is being used continues to change writing. New words and expressions are quickly spread through online conversations and prose. The Internet may quickly be finding itself obsolete and retired to a new and improved Grid that communicates “at speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection” (the Grid). Books may be eventually replaced with environmentally friendly alternatives such as the Kindle, a handheld device that can wirelessly download and display over 200 books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs (Kindle). A world without books, where all writing takes place electronically, can and perhaps is happening within our lifetime, which would gradually change all writing that used to be in print to become integrated as part of the Internet Grammar spectrum. Personally, I enjoy interacting online and writing with all three levels of grammatical efficiency. Being able to electronically dog ear or search (Kindle) through what I’m reading would be great (I would never abuse a book like that in real life!), and this technology had the potential to help renew an interest in reading, but I am going to have a very hard time giving up my books.

Bibliography
Abdullah, Mardiziah Hayati. “Electronic Discourse: Evolving Conventions in Online Academic Environments. The Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Composition. 1998. Accessed April 29, 2008. http://chiron. valdosta.edu/whuitt/files/elecdiscourse.html
--- “The Impact of Electronic Communication on Writing.” The Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, 188. December 2003. Accessed April 29 2008. http://reading. indiana.edu/ieo/digests/d188.html Two very old papers (in terms of the evolution of the internet), citing even older research as it discusses concerns about how use of the internet impacts students’ writing.
“’The Grid’ Could Soon Make the Internet Obsolete.” FOXNews.com. 7 April, 2008. Accessed 22 April, 2008. http://www.foxnews.com/story/ 0,2933,347212,00.html Article that I inadvertently stumbled upon that discusses where the Internet is going, or rather, where it isn’t.
Heingartner, Douglas. “The Grid: the Next-Gen Internet?” Wired. 8 March 2001. Accessed April 26, 2008. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries /news/2001/03/42230 One of the only articles I could find on the Grid, and it’s very old, too. It’s interesting to me that it has taken seven years to build it.
“Internet Grammar Concerns.” Webopedia. 10 March 2006. Accessed 29 April 2008. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2002/InternetGrammar.asp Short entry outlining the proper ways to refer to the Internet and World Wide Web in writing. I had no idea there were any rules in this respect, so interesting bit of information.
“Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device.” Amazon.com. Accessed April 19, 2008. http://www.amazon.com Path: Kindle. Amazon’s listing for a new wireless device that will allow owners to download books and more wirelessly. According to the home page, Amazon has been having trouble keeping them stock.

None of the journals I searched provided any articles, except one story that I could only read one page of. I have been maintaining my own webpage for ten years, using Yahoo Groups, forums, and chat rooms for even longer, writing fanfiction for 8-9 years, and blogging for five years.

Someday, i will have one of these...

i just stumbled upon this blog which features a stair case that is also a bookcase. What a dream come true, a way to conserve space that is so functional for the bookworm in me. Everyone has got to visit said blog and check out the pictures.

Incidentally, i accidentally rejected a comment today in which someone stated HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (the stinking links are right next to each other and there are little ones bouncing on me). Thanks for the comment, but i couldn't undo the rejection, lol.

Standard English (for Structure of the English Language)

English is a language that constantly adapts, adopting words from other languages, creating new words to meet the needs of its culture and times, but retaining its foundation to allow the reader to understand what was being said and written down hundreds of years ago. The collective dialect has changed over time, just as surely as it is different from region to region, but we are still connected to people in the past through our language.

Jones describes Standard English as “pronunciation” and argues that its adaptation comes from formal, informal, familial, and local influences (450). Knott’s definition for Standard English is even broader:

Standard English is that aggregate of forms, idioms, patterns, words, phrases, and usages, which has been in part inherited and adopted, and in large part devised, cultivated, and perfected, by the aggregate of the long succession of professional literary composers whose oral, manuscript, and printed work constitutes the body of English literature in the broadest sense. (83)

The words you hear, even the way they are pronounced, can be vastly different from region to region (even leaving out the differences between American and British speech), but we are all affected by broader influences which also unite us. Every one of us helps define Standard English, though not on our own. Our first influences are our family and the people we are surrounded with as a baby, for they are who we instinctually learn how to speak from. As we grow older we go to school and learn how to read, and our influences suddenly become vaster. Each one of us is taught by our teacher what formal English was, from our peers what informal English is, and are constantly redefining what English will become. If Knott had written today he might cite the influences of music, television/films, and magazines, but during his childhood the greatest influences were most likely the stories his grandparents told him, plays, and books.

I doubt that Knott could have even imagined YouTube or blogs in his wildest dreams (he was writing this when my grandfather was an infant). In the past new words and expressions were adopted and adapted by word of mouth, most likely changing quickly in a select peer group but more slowly in a larger region and the world. Today anyone can instantly self-publish themselves on a blog or podcast and be read or heard milliseconds later just as easily by someone who lives next door as someone on the other side of the planet. The news of election results and disasters once took days and weeks, if not months, to be reported on, then heard by word of mouth or read in a letter or newspaper, now we have instant access. On September 11th the entire world gave a collective gasp when they saw the Twin Towers collapse. When the next Election Day comes around, we will probably know who the new President of the United States is by the same night or next morning.

In today’s world it is more important than ever to be able to effectively communicate with others. If we all used the same words, but didn’t use punctuation, or tense, and generally we were taught is good grammar, then many people will be scratching their heads and some will most likely be offended. I predict that as technology and cultures continue to adapt and collide that Standard English will be more important than ever, will have to change drastically to meet other languages halfway, or will become a dead language itself. English may be the language of communication and free trade now, but that was because the British Empire spread the language throughout the world. In today’s world birth rates are on the decline in English speaking countries, while on the rise for Muslim people, and all of us are still vastly outnumbered by the Chinese people. As much as I love to speak, read, sing, and write in English, in today’s political environment one starts to wonder how long it will last.

Grey writes, “The only way we can understand our world is through language” (Does Thought Depend on Language?), but what would we become if our language changed? Will our children and their children speak English, and if they do speak another language will they think the same way we do? We don’t know the answers to these questions yet. Language separates us from other cultures, and they usually learn our language, but I wonder what will happen if the United States is overthrown, or evolves into something else, and English is no longer the unofficial national language, but is instead replaced with something else. We all instinctually know what Standard English is now, but if that day ever comes then all of these definitions will be thrown out the window. Instead of being part of our being and life the will become part of history. We cannot know the answers to these questions: not yet, at least, but no matter what happens we will continue to learn what Standard English was as we influence the English of tomorrow.



Annotated Bibliography

Barry, Anita K. English Grammar: Language as Human Behavior. 2nd. ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Our textbook and the beginning point of my research.

Buckhurst, Helen McM. “Some Recent Americanisms in Standard English.” American Speech, Dec. 25. 159-166. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=9942053&site=ehost-live
Discusses how some slang is forgotten yet some is adopted into the English language. The article is written from a British perspective and points out that Americans are usually more concise.

Grey, D.S. “Does Thought Depend on Language?” Language in Use. 2007. Cambridge, UK. 20 Feb. 2008. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/thought.html
---. “Endangered Languages.” Language in Use. 2007. Cambridge, UK. 20 Feb. 2008. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/04change/endangered.html
---. “The Notion of Correctness.” Language in Use. 2007. Cambridge, UK. 18 Feb. 2008. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/07crect/07crect.html
---. “The Standard English Dialect.” Language in Use. 2007. Cambridge, UK. 18 Feb. 2008. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/12dial/standard.html
The links that were in our checklist along with other articles available on the same site. Short, but sparks some interesting ideas.

Jones, Margaret E. “The Case for Standard English.” Quarterly Journal of Speech, Oct. 36. 449-456. 20 Feb. 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=9225206&site=ehost-live
A college professor discusses Standard English and its relationship with dialect and education: this is especially influenced by the fact that her fellow professors are from various areas of the country and even abroad.

Knott, Thomas K. “Standard English and Incorrect English.” American Speech, Apr. 34. 83-90. 20 Feb. 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=9989499&site=ehost-live
Examines Standard English in regard to mass education, new technology, population growth, and (then) current world events. This is interesting to read in contrast to the technology and war that we are currently experiencing.

Google Goes Wireless: An Analysis

Abstract
Over the past twelve years Google Inc. has expanded from a research project to one of the world’s most successful online corporations. Part of Google’s philosophy is, “It’s best to do one thing really, really, well,” and “You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.” Google has already done upheld the first promise with searching the internet, and they continue to pursue perfecting the second statement as well. The company’s services have expanded to include blogging, shopping, getting directions, and watching videos: now Google wants to bring these services to your cell phone while making it cheaper for everyone.

Introduction
Google was formed by two guys who didn’t like each other very much when they met, but when they started working together on a college research project they found a way to renovate the internet. Google has continued to provide applications and tools to make using the internet more convenient, bringing the power of their search engine to cell phones. Some of their services are controversial, but all of them are useful when applied in the right way. Google has continued to change how the internet is used and make it more accessible and useful. They’ve protected the rights of those who use the internet and are working to come up with new technologies to protect the planet. Next Google hopes to change the cell phone industry, and not in the way that the experts expected.

Research Methods
In order to write an effective profile about Google, I performed the following research:
1. I researched Google’s background by reading articles in journals and magazines (found via online databases such as Business Source Premiere), blogs (written by financial and technological experts), and information from the Google website and its affiliates. I looked for books at the library about the company, but because this research and analysis is based on current events I found that they were outdated or inapplicable to Google’s newest developments.
2. I identified what Google has accomplished as a company:
~ Two students performed a research project for a college course and decided to try putting it into practice.
~ As a new company Google revolutionized online searching and, later, what tools are available to internet surfers.
~ Google is continuing to expand its focus and goals to meet the world’s rapidly changing needs (more specifically, the information and technology explosion of the past decade).
3. I researched three of the projects that Google is currently working on in hopes of creating a better world. The most helpful resources were the official website and blog, as well as technical/computer related magazine articles and blogs.



History
Google, like many companies, is always changing to meet the needs of its consumers, but they are always at the forefront of adapting new technology to better pursue this goal. The company’s roots are embedded in working together despite differences of opinion to create something better than what the world already has to work with. In January 1996, two students at Stanford University—Larry Page and Sergey Brin—began designing a new type of internet search engine for a class project. The search engines of the day searched pages based on how many times keywords were found on a page; Page’s system was based on a mathematic graph of what pages were linked to other pages. He realized that for a webpage to be linked to another one that someone has to type the url into the html code and that person is only going to link to pages that are helpful.

Adapting the technology of the day, he and Brin began the project BackRub, which mapped the internet through back links, and eventually decided to try to sell the technology as a new type of search engine. Using funding from a National Science Foundation grant, the partners built their servers using discounted personal computers that used a Linux platform. Page and Brin didn’t find anyone to buy their search engine (now nicknamed Google), but they did find someone to back it financially in 1998. They quickly outgrew their garage (10,000 hits a day in September 1998), as well as the the Palo Alto, California, office (500,000 hits a day in February 1999) and moved into their new corporate headquarter in June 1999.

By September 1999 Google was used for over 3 million searches a day and had moved out of Beta: the search engine quickly became a household name and exploded in popularity. Over the next few years Google added the ability to search on a wireless device, in other languages, and changed the way ads work on the internet. Unlike other search providers and homepages, Google isn’t overwhelmed by images and ads: everything is text based and streamlined for faster loading, and all the advertisements are related to your search. The company developed a search bar that’s built into your browser, and by the end of 2000 Google fielded 100 Million searches a day.

Since then Google has made it possible to search for images, shop mail-order catalogs online, and later to search for the best price online. They acquired Blogspot.com and YouTube, started a free e-mail service, began mapping Earth with satellite imagery, and provided an easy way to search for a business or address, then find out how to get there on a map. There is an official blog to keep up with all the changes that are around the corner and anyone can personalize the homepage to suit their own individual needs.

Discussion
Not everyone is thrilled with some of the services Google is providing on the internet: Manes claims: “Google's search results pages (but not the home page) included an item called ‘Web History.’ I quickly discovered that this meant Google was keeping track of my personal surfing -- not just my searching,” and laments:

Google has separate terms of service and privacy policies, plus bonus policies for individual services. These tend to be vague and puzzling -- except for the stern disclaimers by which Google basically denies responsibility for anything, as in the warning that “you use the Services at your own risk.”

My subsequent research led me to Google Web History, but I discovered that one must purposefully sign in to your account to activate the feature… you don’t automatically start using the feature, and the features are clearly outlined on the log in page. One could activate it if he weren’t paying attention, but that isn’t Google’s fault. Their privacy policy is easy to find and informs you how to opt out of the service.

The feature that Manes laments has been embraced by others, such as Chitu, who comments: “Of course, such a service would cause a big debate regarding privacy and trust, so it will be disabled by default.” He points out that the service is a logical evolution of programs such as Google Desktop, which, again, must be purposefully downloaded and has terms of service that are agreed to before one starts to use it. Manes might have felt more at ease had he realized that Google has a policy “to anonymize our server logs after 18 to 24 months” and in the past resisted (and overcame) a government subpoena “demanding disclosure of two full months’ worth of search queries that Google received from its users”… but maybe not.

Another common complaint is that Google Earth and Google Maps satellite images show too much detail. Supporters of these features notice that Google Earth helped the Air Force save lives after Hurricane Katrina by providing up to date mapping of the flooded areas, which helped their evacuation efforts. All of these concerns are valid, but are also balanced out with positive reasons for using the new technology and safeguards that allow the consumer to opt out of using the service whenever they choose.

Nearly everyone who uses the internet has now heard of Google, but not everyone knows that they use solar panels at their headquarters, are mapping air quality and emissions for the Environmental Protection Agency, and support building better hybrid cars and more energy efficient computers. The Google Foundation has committed more than $75 million in grants and investments that are dedicated to saving the planet using new environmentally-friendly technologies. They offer incentives to their employees for buying hybrid cars, and most of the products offered in their store are environmentally friendly, by using rechargeable batteries or making t-shirts out of bamboo.

Google is always looking towards the future, and one of the most publicized announcements of the past couple of months is an initiative to make cell phone platforms open source. The experts expected the company to be announcing the development of one G-Phone, but instead Android and the Open Handset Alliance are the beginning of how Google is hoping to improve the way people talk, browse the internet, listen to music, and play games on all cell phones. Google has always been supported and used open source applications and organizations such as Linux, Firefox, Apache, and MySQL, so this is a logical next step that is being widely praised. The Open Source Initiative describes open source as: “a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.” Translated for the less technological savvy, this means that anyone can read the code, comment on it, and revise it for their own use. This may seem like a pipe dream, but companies like Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon are already part of the Open Handset Alliance, too. Everyone is hoping to make it easier and cheaper for everyone to use the internet on their cell phone, along with adapting the device to meet your needs. They aren’t hoping to market a single cell phone the way Apple did: they want to bring everyone’s ideas to everyone’s phone. Cell phone companies spend a lot of money for their engineers and programmers to design a phone that their consumers will buy. If the initiative succeeds everyone will save money and receive better services, both the corporations and the consumers.

Conclusion
Google enables people to search for anything on the web by keyword, which includes names, photos, places, news, journals, and personal history. Privacy is sacrificed, of course: for the browser as well as the browsed upon. Most people are concerned about their privacy being compromised, so they install anti-virus software and don’t click on a link that Google warns them may be dangerous. The risk of losing more privacy can is rewarded by better searches and web surfing, and of course no one has to use the service, it’s up to each individual. It does feel nice to know that technology is saving lives, but it’s also comforting to find that a company is willing to spend money to protect our privacy when a government official decides that he or she needs to be checking up no the internet usage of people in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Not everyone believes in global warming, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t also believe in finding better ways to consume the resources our planet has given us. Bamboo, rechargeable batteries, hybrid cars, and solar panels are all more expensive up front, but they save money in the long run… along with preserving nature. When one company adopts new policies that prove to be viable then it’s not uncommon for other companies to do so as well.

Cell phones used to be for talking to co-workers, family, and friend, but that was in the ‘90’s. The industry has exploded and cell phones are now used for taking photos, text messaging, browsing the internet, watching videos, and listening to music. If everyone has a cell phone then it makes sense for everyone to be able to pick what features will help them and save money.

When people look at Google today they may see a multi-million dollar corporation that may someday become a competitor to companies such as Microsoft. Others may use Google simply because they provide services that no one else does, or in new ways that are better than their competitors methods. A lot of people probably just use Google’s search engine because it’s reliable, and you can always find what you need to know within a matter of seconds. I personally find it inspiring that two college students managed to become successful because they took a class project to the next step and changed the way that people use the internet. I can’t wait to see what the people at Google come up with next.



References
About Us (2008). Retrieved February 4, 2008 from Google.org. http://www.google.org/about.html

Android (2008). Retrieved January 30, 2008 from Open Handset Alliance. http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html

Ante, S. (2007, December 4). Verizon Embraces Google’s Android. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from Business Week Online. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=27740554&site=ehost-live

Chan, Jesse (2007, November 13). The Downfall of the Microsoft Empire. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from FishTrain. http://fishtrain.com/2007/11/13/the-downfall-of-the-microsoft-empire/

Chitu, Ionut Alex (2007, March 6). Web History, the Next Step in Personalized Search? Retrieved February 6, 2008 from Google Operating System. http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/03/web-history-next-step-in.html

Corporate Information (2008). Our Philosophy. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from Google. http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html

Environmental Protection Agency (2008, January). Google Adds Air Quality and Emissions Mapping. Retrieved February 14, 2008 from Civil Engineering. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=28142927&site=ehost-live

Fleischer, Peter (2007, June 11). Retrieved February 14, 2008 from The Official Google Blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-long-should-google-remember.html

Google Milestones (2007). Corporate Information. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from Google. http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html

Gralla, Preston (2007, March 28). Freebies in Action: How Craigslist and Google Earth Save Lives. Retrieved February 14, 2008 from PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130045-page,9-c,freeware/article.html

Hart, David (2004, August 17). On the Origins of Google. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from National Science Foundation - Discoveries. http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100660&org=NSF

Manes, Stephen (2007, December). Today’s Web: Use at Your Own Risk. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from PCWorld. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=27460064&site=ehost-live

Open Source Initiative (2007). Retrieved February 6, 2008. http://www.opensource.org/

Web History (2008). Retrieved February 5, 2008 from Google. http://www.google.com/history/

Web History Privacy Notice (2007, February 22). Retrieved February 14, 2008 from Google. http://www.google.com/history/whprivacy.html

Wong, Nicole (2006, March 17). Judge Tells DoJ “No” on Search Queries. Retrieved February 14, 2008 from The Official Google Blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/judge-tells-doj-no-on-search-queries.html

Wong, Nicole (2006, February 17). Response to the DoJ Motion. Retrieved February 14, 2008 from The Official Google Blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/response-to-doj-motion.html

the college student in me rejoices

Livescribe article
Livescribe video

When i take college classes on campus it's hard to write papers that refer to lectures because one simply cannot write down everything that a professor says. i can't even type fast enough to do it, and most professors (at least at MSC) frown upon students using laptops during their lectures. But now you can take notes while recording the lecture and later on be able to play it back from the pen you took notes with or your computer. This has got to be the best thing to happen for college students... if you fall asleep in class it won't matter because you'll be able to play it back later, lol. If you want to quote the teacher in your paper, you can, word for word. If i was taking Writing for Mass Communications (i journalism course through and through) this little pen could be a lifesaver (i might not have been so gung ho about dropping the course if i would have had one). Welcome to the future, it's the best present you could get your high school senior because they'll be ready for college in the fall. i'm way too excited.

shiver me timbers, i have a bone to pick

i have not been writing because i've been simultaneously avoiding feeling and trying to figure some stuff out. My life feels very uneventful. Until about a week ago i was playing World of Warcraft at every available moment, lately not so much. i was trying to level my two characters with my sister's (and so, not supposed to play alone, not that it's enjoyable to play alone) that are at the same level, and now we have all four at the same level, but she is so involved with her guild that there isn't much time for me. i have a Blood Elf Hunter and Troll Shaman that are awesome. i don't care for my Undead Lock or Draenei Pally overly much. We're supposed to start playing a Tauren Druid (me) and Tauren Shaman (her) on a RP server but there just isn't enough time in the day and i've been spending time leveling my Shammy and missing my Hunter and now i just want to play the Shammy but still miss the Hunter (can i have a Shunter or a Hammy, please?). i'm conflicted and wish i was already to lvl 70 but don't like playing alone and am sick of stinking pugs with mush for brains, or people who ninja or don't care what they agro, or being blamed for stuff that is totally outside my control. i'm tired of healing with a shammy that i want to dps with and sick of trying to get my pet to do what i want without getting the nth degree.

Ah, i have no life. And in a way i don't care. WoW every day, day in and day out, what's bad about that? (;

In RL i am working at a Hancock Fabrics that is not in such a safe neighborhood. i like my job, but it's exhausting to be on your feet eight hours straight. My manager wanted me to work five days this week and how am i supposed to do that and enable Megan to work too? Impossible, which totally negates my entire reasons for coming here. Which i embrace and fight simultaneously...

On my last night in Whitewater i was flipping mad because i felt like i was being pulled in a million directions. i started writing a poem about it but haven't been able to finish it. i am not in quite the same zone anymore and can't quite put into words what i'm feeling and working through. It just seems to me that it never works to put God first, then others, then yourself, because myself never has anything left over and what if God's needs conflict with the others'? i still end up feeling guilty and p.o.'d no matter what i do or how hard i try and then guilty that i haven't tried harder and righteous cuz i worked as hard as i could but did i really?

Which just puts pain to a lot of things i've been working through. i feel like the church has totally misconstrued God's intentions in a lot of ways, and i don't exactly know if i'm being stupid and sinful, or if i'm on to something. Am i being nonconformist for a reason? Am i truly meant to be a prophet? Or am i just being a stubborn ass who won't move in the direction my master wants me to? Case in point, the word ass is in the Bible and Red Foreman uses it so eloquently. However if the word was actually directed at myself by my father or anyone else i doubt that i'd feel amused or uplifted. But i've grappled with the idea of cursing a lot lately; i learned to curse from other Christians, and what the Bible says is not to put others down, not to not use certain words. So is not cursing at all merely legalistic?

So here's my bone to pick: why has the church become so legalistic? i feel like we're Protestants are a bunch of Pharisees and Catholics are a bunch of Saducees or vice versa. And i see such hypocricy in the church that it just blows me away and scares me. Here are a few examples:

Nudity is bad. Sex is bad (except when married). Dancing is bad and only leads to sex, so don't do it. Even when married, do not discuss sex ... So, uh, Adam and Eve must have been sinning even before they ate the forbidden fruit. God was crazy when he designed our sexual organs and therefore, by default, sex. Married people with your marital problems due to lack of intimacy and communication: go somewhere else for help. Oh, and don't get me started about the Song of Solomon or David dancing in the streets of Jerusalem.

Drinking alcohol and doing drugs is incredibly horrible! Don't even think of doing it! ... Why did Jesus turn water into wine and then later command his followers to eat bread and drink wine EVERY SINGLE TIME believers meet together?!?!?!? Come to think of it, why did he create drugs of any sort, naturally in nature, or give men the brains to make fake ones??? And is caffeine a bad drug, too? Is it a sin to have a Coca-Cola or a Java Chip Frapp? Is water or oxygen a drug, too? Because i am totally and hopelessly addicted to both, and i've tried stopping, but my body pretty much rebelled.

Card playing is bad. Gambling is bad ... We all know what happened when Jonah was dumped overboard and been swallowed by that fish. And what an awful way to have fun with your family.

Movies are the Devil's work! ... This is the same sort of mentality churches had about novels in Austen's time. My question is, why did God give us an imagination if He didn't intend us to use it? How dare we even talk to each other, tell historical tales, learn how to write letters and words in order to communicate, then learn how to write fiction! Of course several of those steps were entirely necessary in order for God's Word to be recorded in the form of a book....

Back to the sex issue: if you cut back, you'll have fewer kids, and for some reason that's what we all want. Children are a danged nuisance if you ask most people in the church and the world. Breast feeding is utterly offensive, don't do it. Babies and Toddlers only scream, send them to the nursery and pay people to care for them instead of coming to worship themselves. Children are loud and obnoxious, send them to public school so you can get them out of your hair. Don't teach them anything, don't trust them, don't raise them to be Christ-like, expect them to rebel and whine about it when the don't listen to you or get in trouble. Try to control their life throughout high school and college (when it's too late), tell them not to get married until they hit at least 25 (they're too young to know what they want out of life), then badger them until the age of 30 to get on the ball and give you grandkids, then chew them out at the age of 35 when they won't stop having them. Make sure that they know that the career is what's most important, that and perpetuating the cycle that was created before your own time ... DON'T HAVE BABIES AT HOME, DON'T TEACH KIDS AT HOME OR RAISE THEM IN gODLY LIVING, DON'T YOU DARE TELL THEM HOW TO LIVE OR TRY TO RAISE THEM ON YOUR OWN, YOU'RE TOO DUMB!!! ... Meanwhile abortion is bad, birth control WAS bad (but is now expected of you), children are the bane of existence (have i mentioned). How about we let the entire Human species die out or start figuring out how to clone people instead? Oops, but then people wouldn't have souls. WHAT IS GOING WRONG WITH YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY, THE LITTLE WHIPPERSNAPPERS HAVE NO RESPECT!

rofl... No wait... <the writer lets out a piercing scream of horror and fear>...

God made us to appreciate sex, enjoy sex, desire sex, have sex to procreate, have sex to bond with our spouse, and that's it (but i imagine it must be pretty great, all the same). CHILDBIRTH IS NOT A DISEASE, it was what the female body was designed to do, and if it doesn't it can get sick. God designed breasts for feeding babies and the formula makers are only formulating pale copies of the perfect real deal. Children are supposed to be raised by their parents, not figuratively blind teachers who are either underpaid and doing it cuz they love it or are one of those who could not find anything better to do with their lives. Children are a blessing from the Lord and it is up to Him how many children He gives or takes away. Anyone that has a heartbeat has a soul, so yes, abortion is murder. Respect must be given and earned to be received, how about you give love and start acting like an adult and we'll take it from there?

Sarcasm is the recourse of a weak mind ... Complaints against sarcasm are the recourse of those who can't come up with a good retort or face reality.

A couple of weeks ago i was watching an old Homicide:Life on the Street rerun and one of the characters said that you have to know your weakenesses/sins and love them because they're a part of you, too. He said that unless your vices rub against your virtues and are tested then they are worthless (paraphrased, of course). His words rang of truth; how can you know that you truly believe something if you've never questioned it? i am nowhere near as eloquent as him right now, but surely you get the gist: assuming makes an ass of u and me.

We are meant to read God's Word for ourselves and discern for ourselves in which way that God wants us to live. We are meant to live for God alone, and not ignore our own needs, or put others' needs before His, or be selfish and/or rebellious about giving our time and efforts. Where does Jesus tell us to start being legalistic, bind ourselves to new man-made holy "law"s, or ignore His example? i don't know if i could ever be the mouthpiece of God, but i am terrified by the trends that i see in today's church. The most important Law is "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself," but how can you love your neighbor if you hate yourself and how can you love yourself if you hate God's will and vision for your life?

In many ways i have hated the past seven years, nine months, plus, of my life. Others are always trying to sabotage my service of God, and yet i have been completely dependent on others for survival. i hate it when others judge where i am by with worldly yardsticks and yet i find myself doing the same thing. At every turn i question God, i try to understand, i beg Him to explain, i beg Him to deliver, i beg Him to answer me, i beg Him to take care of my needs instead of making me depend on others' grace. Two thought-provoking verses from last week's Bible study stand out in my mind in answer to these questions.

The first is John 1:5: "The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it," or, "...and the darkness has not understood it." This suddenly made perfect sense to me in many ways. In my minds eye, the past seven plus years have been spent in a cage, one of God's making. i lament my inability to see Him, feel Him, escape (ironic, when all i want is to be with Him, isn't it?), and have struggled to comprehend the events of my life. i can see myself naked, curled up in the dark, my eyes blinded, my body broken. But at the same time there are times when it is as if i can feel my skin on fire, on fire in a good way, a tickling, itching, new skin growing way. i can feel the star on my forehead, reflecting God's light, picture in my mind's eye the barcode on my neck that has been marked Paid in Full / It is Finished by Jesus, savor the sting of the trinity circles that are also tattooed into my wrists and soul, and feel the itch of the flaming wing that lie nestled in my shoulder blades, longing to burst into life. i sound like a fool, but i know that these marks are a part of me, whether they have been marked on my earthly skin and can be seen on earth or not, i believe that when i stand before Jesus that everyone will be able to see them as i can feel them, etched into my very being. i am wearing a tiara, just like an elf in LotR, and one day i will lay it at His feet, but the burns, reflections, light, will still remain.

So if all of these marks remain with me, and i can still not hear, touch, see, feel Christ, God, the Spirit, what then is the explanation? But as i read John 1:5 i knew, deep within, it is because my body is not capable. God is with me in the cage, but He is the bars that keep out the dark and keep me safe. The Spirit is with me in the cage, He is the air i breathe. Jesus is with me in the cage, knows that i long to anoint his feet with my hair, even if my hair is/was gone and i cannot touch him, He is the light i cannot see, a black light that i will never be able to physically perceive but can feel etched into soul and spirit and mind and flesh. If anyone looks at me with God-given spiritual eyes they will see me as i am, wrists marking that i belong to Christ, a neck marking my freedom, wings waiting to fly, and a crown that will be given to God someday. My body is a cage, but one day i will be freed of my residual self image and see myself as i really am, that is to say, how God sees me, his mental projection of my spiritual self.

The other verse that struck me was not part of my Bible study, it was quite by accident. Ever since i got a cover for my Bible i have kept its bookmark ribbon squarely on the same verse: Proverbs 3:5-6. When i close my Bible i usually pull the ribbon down (towards the bottom of the pages) so that the Bible will close smoothly. Last Tuesday i actually turned to that page, which isn't unusual, but i actually read the verses. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths."

The world's, and church's, and my epidemic is thus: we do not trust God, we try to depend on our own understanding. Most of us, i believe, must not really want to see God as He truly is, rather as we want to see Him. People have a small view of God and don't want the ceiling of their cathedral to be broken open, for cathedral ceilings are majestic enough as it is. But what of me? i asked God to show me Himself as He really is, not as i want Him to be, and yet even i am still clinging to my old version of Him. i see the sky, and sometimes the stars, but He wants me to look past the stars. Now i cannot possibly comprehend what is past the stars, but sometimes i try to, sometimes i am quiet and still and for a few thundering heartbeats i see God as He really is and cannot comprehend it, and then He closes my mind off again before it explodes. But even with my mind closed i struggle to see past the boxy cathedral and reach for those stars, knowing that they represent God in a tangible way, for He not only created them in the instant of one breath, He is the stars and lives between them and lives beyond them forever and to the nth dimension.

God put me in this cage as surely as He has caged my mind. People tell me that my husband is not ready for me yet, that is why i have not met him yet, and i know they are wrong. i am not ready for Him, i feel as if i am, but God tells me that i am not, so i know that it is true. He has caged me because the world is not ready to hear what i have to say, rather, what words He will say through me if i ever prove to be worthy enough to whisper them. i am caged because i am not ready to fly, and if i leave the nest i will die. i am caged because of the beast that prowls outside as a lion, seeking to devour me (1 Peter 5:8).

Oh, that God would put a coal to my mouth and cleanse my lips! i would take it in my mouth like Harry's snitch to cleanse my tongue, throat, lungs, if i could. i am forever crying out, "Here am i, send me!" but God is still too far away for me to comprehend. And now i see, plain as day in front of my face, that i'm not supposed to be trying to comprehend, i'm supposed to just believe and seek His will. Who can really seek His will by taking the Bible out of context, create new Laws, twist His teachings, and shield their heart against the starlight? How can i seek Him unless i let go of my understanding and do His bidding no matter what the cost. Meanwhile, i'm still a WIP.

Boston Bomb Scare...

Does anyone else think that the entire city of Boston is freaking out entirely too much???

So the cops find these little LightBright things all over town and start blowing them up because they think they're bombs. Everyone is in uproar, it's another 9/11, and then they realize that these aren't bombs, so then people start crying "hoax."

...

It turns out that they're advertisements. Not only that, these advertisements have been hanging around for two-three weeks in not only Boston, but numerous cities in numerous states.

So as i was watching Nightline and hearing the Mayor, the District Attorney, the police force, as they proclaim their outrage, how apalled they are that this could happen, that anyone could prey upon the fears of the American people... do they say "oops" and apologize for overreacting? Why no, of course not! They make further idiots of themselves by arresting the artist who designed the ads and put them up all over town. They cite a new law that makes it illegal to create a hoax that looks like terrorism. They spend further taxpayer dollars and waste even more time taking their fear and stupidity out on an artist.

i cannot believe this! What in the world, it's now illegal to advertise? To be an artist?!? And it's all the Cartoon Network's fault because they had the audacity to advertise, too, this was very offensive of them. What idiots. And they're just making themselves look like bigger idiots. i just want to scream.

hurray!!!

what i'm reading ~ Under the Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer

i finally got my new cell phone! My last one got dropped once and thus broke in half. They were always out of them when i had the money to pay the deductable and when they had the phone in i was broke. They didn't send me a silver Razr, though, they sent me a grey one. It looks a little bit different and has a blue Moto logo on the speaker that's neat. i'm so glad that i finally got a phone, it's nerve-wracking not to have one.

Wow, Chubuncle has a LiveJournal, too. It even has a list of all the Karaoke songs in his repertoire.

since i can't currently modify my schedule for next semester...

what i'm knitting ~ i'm in the planning stages for next year's Christmas gifts
what i'm reading ~ Believing God by Beth Moore

i was looking for the wedding video for my Aunt and Uncle's wedding to no avail when i decided to search for her nickname and found that she has a LiveJournal! Unfortunately she hasn't updated it in a while, but i'm looking forward to reading it. i love Aunt Leigh, she fits well in her family, and i look forward to years of getting to know her better. Now if i could only find that video, i know it's out there...

Close a Door, Open a Window

new look!

As you can see i have finally update my blog's look. i thought that black was starting to get a bit old but i didn't want anything too bright so of course i turned to my favorite color, blue. With the new year more changes will be coming (i hope) making my blog ever more fabulous. And now it's time for me to stop lounging about and get dressed.

what i'm knitting ~ tankini top
what i'm listening to ~ The Taking by Dean Koontz
what i'm reading ~ Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
what i'm writing ~ a few things here and there, mostly schoolwork d:

So i've started blogging more at MySpace. i guess i feel free to be silly there but not here. Here i'm more serious: more honest about real life. Most of all, i don't know what to do, i don't know what to write because i don't know how to analyze my life and circumstances, i am lost. It's weird for me. i feel like the main character in The Taking who believes in God but isn't inclined to pray for what she wants because she's afraid He'll give her the opposite to what she's asking for. This is ridiculous and false, i know, but it's still how i feel. If praying hasn't worked after seven years, three months, and sixteen days how am i supposed to believe that it will now? Yet i do. i don't know what to ask for anymore, what to see, all i know is that i need Him. i'm helpless, paralyzed, overcome by the dark. i hope i can become a phoenix being reborn from the ashes. But when will that happen? If i await with baited breath, will i not pass out? There are no easy answers to these questions. i feel selfish and small to ask them. But i don't know how to be anyone else anymore.

My new MySpace.com blog... trying to reconnect with people i went to high school with.

how to "change time & date"

Well i have now figured out how to put the time i'm posting on my posts. It was hidden under "Post and Comment Options" and i have to click on that every time i want to change time & date. Now i feel silly; i wonder if it's always been there.

drat

Blogger has disabled the ability to edit post times. The time on the post is always the time you loaded the create post page. I like to change it to the actual moment of posting. I guess i won't be able to do that anymore. ):

re: spring schedule

Tuesday and Thursday
Mythology (unless i decide to change it to Comparative Politics)
Weightlifting
Archery
gap that will hopefully be filled with cardio and lunch
Art Appreciation
World's Greatest Films (as much as it sounds like one, i know this will not be an easy course; you have to write a paper for every film you watch)

Monday Wednesday Friday
Spanish (year one, part 2)

i just noticed: every time i spell Wednesday i say it out in my head "wed" (as in to marry) "nez" (as in the last name of a guy i knew in high school) "day" (as in dia).

i've also noticed that the keyboard i'm currently using is very annoying: the left shift keeps getting stuck and i keep making typos because the keys feel strange.

re: page rank

Just who is it that gets to decide how relevant a page is, anyway? One man's junk is another man's treasure.

and my page rank is...

3

.

.

.

that's rather depressing.

spam

what i'm knitting ~ PoA scarf (3/4 of the way through)
what i'm listening to ~ lots of Harry Potter composed by John Williams, lots of K-Love

i have been getting a ton of spam in my inbox at Yahoo Mail lately and i have no idea why.

she got it from me

Brinna is now on 43 Things, too.