Email is wonderful--Sometimes

Throughout our class this semester, we have been discussing some of the effects that technology has had on our culture. One of the positive effects that have been mentioned is the increased convenience that the internet has brought about. Email woud certainly be categorized as one of these wonderful conveniences. It enables us to be in constant contact with family, friends, companies and their promotions, long lost relatives, teachers, and universities. It helps us send out mass emails to a large number of people, thus preventing us from having to write a multitude of letters or invitations. It also has helped Universities and Employers easily send out information to students and employees.

Despite its many positive impacts however, I want to take a disutopian view on this one, mainly due to the epiphany that dawned on me this week. I have found that although email has been such a valuable asset in my technological experience, it also causes a great amount of stress and takes up a great amount of time during my week. I have to make it a priority everyday to check my email, because you never know if your teacher has cancelled class or changed the homework. You could be awaiting an important answer to a question you sent to a mentor or parent. Also, a large majority of the emails I recieve are people asking me questions. Some examples that I have had the past couple of weeks are: What do you want to do with the extra money in your account? Are you still coming home this weekend? Are you going to register for this event? Have you read this article? How is life? How is school? And the heart-warming yet annoying: How are you doing? I haven't talked to you in a while? What's new?

As a result of all these questions, you feel obligated to respond as quickly as possible and it soon is subconciously deemed a necessity that demands attention. And if you don't respond to someone within a couple of days, they usually think you are ignoring them or you don't care, and, depending on the sender, they might view you as irresponsible. The point is that email has slowly brought more stress in my life on top of school, transitioning to a new period in life, and the simple responsibilities of everyday life. So unless it is important, don't ask me questions, just send me a cute e-card or something.

A Blessing and Curse: My week with Technology

This week was an interesting one concerning my own issues in a networked society. On Monday I got my new laptop in the mail. I was at the idea carrying it around campus and being able to do hw or browse the internet in new and refreshing environments (instead of just my boring dorm room).

However, as is the case with my desktop, I soon ran into to problems with the software Trend-Micro PC-cillin: it wasn't updated, I tried to updated it and told me to install the program, which was confusing b/c it was the program itself telling me to do this, I put the CD in to install and it asked "are you sure you want to uninstall?"---WHAT!!. So, I did the cardinal sin when it comes to the rules of computer security and downloaded Symantec and started running two anti-virus programs. Well, the next morning when I tried to start my computer, to make a long story short, it wouldn't boot up windows so I had to go to ITS to get my laptop fixed.

Despite all the advantages the laptop has enable me to have, the first couple days I have had it has suddenly placed more responsibilities on my "to-do list"--especially with trying to find time to migrate the files from my desktop to my laptop. On the brightside, however, it has been wonderful being able to browse and do hw in buildings like the Union or taking advantage of the beautiful campus and study by the WW II fountain. I have found, at least this week, that technology does in fact make my life easier and that it allows me to refresh my day by studying in various and diverse surroundings. The problem, however, is that sometimes the convienence can only be achieved by going through a period of stressful decisions and gruntwork, such as figuring out which computer to buy or trying to troubleshoot a problem.

Wow...I'm late on the first one

Well, I officially forgot about updating my blog by 2:00 pm today. But, I guess some good can come out of it--at least this will help me remember from this point on. Even though it won't count, I want to post one anyway.

This week I used the internet three different times to purchase merchandise. The first purchase, motivated by the suggestion of one of my friends, was buying all of my textbooks online. I was able to purchase all of the required texts for all of my classes!! Unfortunately, however, one of the books was refunded for an anonymous reason, so I still need to place one more order. In addition to my textbooks, I finally got around to buying a flash drive for myself. I have really wanted to get one lately--especially when I found out about Portable firebug, a application that allows you to transport your customized browser to other computers. I looked around two stores, E-cost.com and Buy.com, and, after comparing prices, went with Buy.com because they offered free shipping along with a 19.00 rebate. So, I was able to buy a 512mb flash drive for 9 dollars after the mail-in rebate.

Finally, I bought some Nutritional supplements online from bodybuilding They offer their own brand-line of products, similar to H-E-B and CVS, which are always significantly cheaper than the more well-known brands. Taking into account the supplements are always cheaper online anyway, despite the brand, this one was a no-brainer.

That is the main reason I make many of my purchases online. Although, I don't have the luxury of receiving them the same day, I save so much because of the lack of sale-tax and shipping charges. However, it can be more stressful, because there are so many sites to choose from that you are always wondering if you got the best deal. Plus, it is not as fun just sitting at your computer shopping as opposed to going to the mall or store itself.

TEST

THIS IS A TEST.

Joe is a stud.