5 weird houses!

Hi dear friends, I know the class is over, but I like to keep my blog!
I found this 5 weird houses and thought you might want to look at them!
So if you want click on this link.

Too much!!

I am not sure what to say about this!!! I was looking for nice pictures for my last project and this is what I found! I was talking to some of my friends about this today and we said, it depends who is the person that is facebppking our mom? if he/she is a close friend that is fine, but if by this sentences they mean they are flirting with our mom, then that is what I felt is too much.
What do you think? is it too much?

facebook and education

Did you know that some people think that facebook is helpful for keeping the students in College or University? Some researchers explained since students makes a lot of friends is facebook, they look forward to come to school again and spend their time together and STUDY!!

Some suggested that schools should use facebook instead of BlackBoard, since it has the same features and the students are already there!

Well, I agree with the first statement, because I can see that how having more friends in school helps you to get through it easier and you have somebody to talk to about classes and teachers, but about the second suggestion, I don't think that is a good idea! It is so easy to get distracted while you are using facebook even for academic reasons! I was doing my first project in a group  that was shaped in facebook and a friend of mine posted some pictures, then I found myself looking at her pictures without even realizing that I was doing homework!

What do you think? Is it a good idea to use facebook instead of Blackboard, and do you agree that facebook is helping universities and schools to keep the students?

look for more info on my final project website!! :)
Cheers,

Future of music industry?

What is the first thing that you think of when you hear music industry? Maybe it is unusual but I remember the different ways that we can listen to music. Through MP3 player and iPods. We were talking about the future of music industry in class and the impact of MP3. I never knew that MP3 was created to share motion pictures!! and didn't know that it eliminate some sounds to make it smaller in size!! that is very very cool.

I think singers are happier now that their voice can reach everybody, no matter how much their CD is going to cost. I think they are getting more famous and they can make enough money by commercial and the concerts that they do. Don't you think?

Indiana Jones Lego!

As we were talking about the movies that have support of animations and video games and ...
I found This nice video for India Jones and I think it is a good one!!
I hope you like it too! :)

House with a twist!! You can slide inside!!

I was going to check my email in Yahoo, that I saw this interesting post!!
A house that is kid pleasing and they can slide inside!! WOW
If you want to see all the pictures you can visit this link

If you don't have time, I am putting some of them here so you can see!
Thay are offering both stairs and slide!!!
Would you buy that house?

what is your name? facebook!!!

As you all heard, a proud father of a girl in egypt, named his daughter "facebook" to mark the successful revolution that they had recently. If you want to know more click here
I think it is a big responsibility of the parents to choose a wise name for their kid, Do you think facebook is a wise name for a kid?

Looking forward to hear what you think?

youth and new media!

Do you think youth are so attached to new media like iPod, iPhone, smart phones,....? well, I agree with you. I know some people that can not live without checking their facebook often during the day, or their smart phone is glued to their hands and are texting often. I am not sure if it is healthy or  respectful to others to be attached to all these new technologies.
The time that we spent with family is getting less and less. I believe that there should be a moderation between using technology and living our lives. I remember I was reading a book for my English class, and there was a chapter about how people are missing so much from world, when they are walking or running in the morning and are listening to their iPod. They are missing the sound of wind, birds, water.(depending where they are running!) People don't communicate with each other more when they know that they can ignore others with pretending to listen to a music.
Or is it respectful to talk on the phone while ordering your coffee from Starbucks or your food from McDonald's? I don't think so.

I think youth need to realize that it is important to learn new technologies, but there should be a moderation in using them. We need to learn to use the technology appropriately and enough. Otherwise the family bonds are going to disappear, since people don't spend time together anymore! :(

My favorite super bowl commercial...

Doritos Healing Grandpa commercial is my favorite commercial in this year's super bowl. It has a very deep meaning behind it!
Enjoy!

Happy safer internet day!!!

According to Yahoo! today is a safer internet day, and after all we talked about yesterday in the class, I though we should celebrate this day!

Have a great, fun and safer internet day!

Cyberbullying!

Have you ever heard of Cyberbullying?
I was reading a magazine called Woman'sDay,(September 2010 issue), and it says that %60 of high schoolers say they have experienced cyberbullying which ic through things like texting, facebook and YouTube.
They gave 11 warning singns, and if one or more of these behaviors persists, it could mean your child is being bullied.

• Has unexplained cuts, bruises and scrapes
• Comes home from school with torn clothing, damaged books
• Constantly loses school supplies or money
• Doesn't want to go to school; is afraid to ride the school bus
• Chooses an illogical route for going and from school
• Suddenly is sullen, withdrawn, evasive
• Seems socially isolated, with few, if any, friends; is rarely invited to parties or homes of other kids
• Complain of headaches, stomachaches; frequently visits the school nurse
• Has difficulty sleeping, bad dreams; cries self to sleep, wets the bed
• Appears sad or depressed
• Has a sudden and significant drop in grades, as well as difficulty focusing and concentrating.

React the right way:  find out the level of bullying, email or meet the teacher, report the harassment to your ISP(contact the company that runs the website, and ask them to take it off), if the bullying is physical call the police.
How you can help teens and "tweens" cope with this problems? You need to rebuild their self-esteem, create a network of friends, and teach them coping skills and assertiveness.

I thought this is important to know and be aware of.

 Please help stop bullying! If you know any other websites or articles I would be happy if you share it with me! :)

Also I found this video that shows how Cyberbullying is happening. Hope we can stop it!

Have a great day!

snow day and studying! :)

Hi every body!

So as you know today we got a snow day and I just got a phone call from COD that they are canceled until noon, but no news from North Central yet!

So what did you do today? well, I did study my computer science, then shoveled the snow that had covered our balcony, which you can see in the picture below. It took an hour and 3 people to finish it, but looks great now. I heard that there is going to be little rain shower and then it will be ice, because of the cold weather. Lets see what happens!!!

I remember my niece asked me once, what are we called? what is the name of our generation? in Generation Digital it mentions that we are called couple of different things, like "N-geners", "Webheads","Keyboard Kids", "CyberChildren" and "the MySpace generation".

It was very interesting to me that RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) decided to sue its own users who were teenagers and college students. Can't imagine the face of the parents when they got the mail that shows how much they are charged and loved the comment that , that one father made,
" They're in there doing their homework and listening to all these different songs. I don't know what the .... they did, but I know one thing; they're not going to be doing it anymore." Does this sound familiar to you? I think that is what most children do. Make trouble!!! LOL and their parents talk exactly the same!

well, until next time,
Keep warm and be safe! :)

Before

After

March for life!

My two new friends, Laura and Mary, are active in prolife group. They marched in Washington DC this past weekend with thousands and thousands of other people, but have you heard about them?
NO, I did not, untill they told me about it ! I am so sad to see that there was no coverage for this big event that happened in DC, but here is the link that you can get to Laura's blog and learn about it.

Have a great day!

Google Earth available in Iran

 I remember that, the best way to find somebody's address was to call them and ask them what is the best way to get to your home, and we didn't use google that much in Iran. But now, I am sure google will be more helpful! :)
But  you need to know that the way we typed the address is different than the way they type it in US. We usually put the name of the country first, then state, then the name of the street and then house number, So I am really intrested to see how this would work in Iran! Most of the Iranians know English, so I think even if it would not work that way, it's not still a big disaster.

well, we welcome google earth to Iran!

Online Community

In chapter 5 of "An introduction to cybercultures" , the author is discussing what is an online community, and if it really has the characteristics of a community. I found it very interesting that he mentions:
 "In cyberspace, we chat and argue, engage in intellectual intercourse, perform acts of commerce, exchange knowledge, share emotional support, make plans, brainstorm, gossip, fall in love, find friends and lose them, play gaames, flirt,..."
 After reading this part, i realized that I could say, technology and internet ( specially Facebook) helped me sustain some of the communities that I was part of before and join new communities! It also helped me to keep in touch with my friends in Iran and still be a part of their community and help them in anyway possible, also join new groups in United States and help them achieve their goals!
This question might come up that, is it really a community if you are not able to see the participants and go out with them in "Real Life" to get to know them a little better? which I think internet has an answer for that too, or atleast the first part. As you all know, there is something called Skype, that let you see the person and chat with them. It is helpful in so many ways, like businesses and some long distance relationships. It help save money, which you would use to travel to that country or reduce the amount of traveling/visiting, while keeping you uptodate about what is going on.
 So I think it is very important to have the " Real Life" community and be able to participate in an online community.

What the Duck!

Some thing to look, after talking about how we use google and Microsoft word as a way to make sure our spelling is right!
There is more fun and interesting comic strips on what the duck, if you are interested to see them!

Cheers,

Impact of internet in our learning

As we talked about the impact of Internet in our life and the way we study a text online, I found this two information about people requesting more online classes, because it is more efficient and they can save money by not driving to school every day or/and pay the babysitter to take care of their child.
So the number of online students in College of DuPage, grew rapidly from 2005 to 2010. And to respond to this need, we offered more courses online, which changed from 78 to 186.

I still think Internet has so many good things that this new generation need to understand and be trained to use it in a wise manner, not just checking their Facebook!

Have a great day! :)

Google being the SECOND most visited? What is the first then?

I was really surprised to hear today that Google is the second most visited website in the world. Can you guess what is the first one? did I hear FACEBOOK!!!! yes, you are right! Facebook is the MOST visited website and even the 4 out of  10 search terms are about facebook. That is amazing!! the searches are like facebook, facebook login, facebook.com and www.facebook.com!! I have no idea why people need to search in google when the know the whole URL!! but I think that is funny!

The other interesting thing is, I am working in the library, and once saw somebody searching for Google in the Yahoo search area! which thought it was interesting too! It just shows the popularity and efficiency that Google offers!

Cheers,

blogging on how to blog

As I am reading Jason Kottke's bloggers on blogging, I realized that he is not sure what his blog is about. He is saying that most people write about politics, technology and celebrity gossip, but his site is not like that at all.  He mentions, "The only unifying factor is I write about and link to whatever I find interesting."  I agree with him that this kind of websites are sometimes more interesting than others. You are always waiting to see what else the blogger is going to blog about. Not that others are not interesting, but I think they will get boring after reading them couple of times. Like how many times you need to go to a blog to read about a celebrity gossip. You'll hear it on the radio usually, or see it on the web, without even going to the blog. That is enough for me, but I understand that some people want to know about the details of the event or whatever happened for the celebrity.
But the point of view that you add to the blog you're posting, makes a big difference. It can set up a fire, or quench the fire!! Which I prefer the second one! :)

It is interesting that he updates his blog 10-12 times each weekday, and tries to work on larger projects every few weeks. His idea about opening the comment option is great. He opens that option up, when he feels that it will generate a useful and interesting conversation.

I understand how hard it is to stay calm when somebody is criticizing you. As I am a Graphic Art major, we made so many projects, and sometimes people criticize you, instead of your project. I kept reminding myself that this critic is for my project and that kept me calm.

I am very happy that I read this article and hope to use his experience in my blogging!

Cheers!

my traveling experience from Sunday!

Hello world!

I am just sharing my experience with you about traveling with the airline called "AirTran."
If you ever decide to travel, I suggest you NOT to get your ticket with this airline. This was the worst experience that I had. I traveled to Dallas for a wedding on this past Saturday, and supposed to be home by Sunday 4pm. But guess what? They closed all the flights back from Atlanta to Chicago (which was a connection for me) for 2 days and were telling me that the earliest flight back in on WEDNESDAY!!!

If you click on the link below, you'll see that they cancelled all the flights on monday, but they actually cancelled the flights from Sunday afternoon and the other fights were full.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2011/01/10/airtran-delta-cancel-flights-into.html

So I changed my airline and got my money back from them, but I slept in the airport for one night and lived there for 2 days!! I got home on Monday at 9:30pm.  Not fun right, BUT, I understood how much I am in need of technology, since my cellphone died in the first day, and the airport did not provide WiFi. There was no way to communicate with my family and school and work. I tried to use the paid phone, but they needed quarters, and I just had 2 of them. So I went to vending machine to get change, and you know what happened???   It gave me a $1 coin, which was not usable for me!
So the other learning is to always take your charger with you, even if you are traveling for one day and you are sure that you will have so much battery.

Thats my learning experience, I hope this was helpful!

Have a great day! :)

my first blog

HEY! I am blogging! :)
This is my favorite class's website.
Enjoy.