Trying to figure out the football game

During this Thanksgiving weekend, my alma mater (University of Utah) and my father's alma mater (BYU) played in their big game. My father was quite anxious to watch it but did not know if or which of his 124,345,883 channels provided coverage of the game. Although I feigned indifference, I went online to try and figure it out. First, I went to the U of U website and found out the time and channel listed for Salt Lake Residents. Then, I had go to our cable provider's website to find a contact number to call. Next, I called the number, navigated my way through a maze of automated dialing, and finally talk to representative who could have very likely been talking to me thousands of miles away. Once I gave her the listed channel for Salt Lake City, she was able to give me the correct channel for my area. To double check, I accessed the guide on the television, looked ahead three days, and found that it was correct. All of this is pretty normal for 2006 but would have sound crazy 20 years ago. It got me thinking. What will be normal 20 years from now?

Watching my cousins-once-removed in the pool

Today my cousin brought over his three daughters to play in parents' pool. As I leisurly dipped my feet into the cool waters, I overheard them playing a game. One had shouted "Now you must go online and sign up for the contest." After the six-year-old had stated the rule, the two other FOUR-year-olds immediately began play typing and then announced that they had "signed on" and were ready for the contest to begin. I almost dropped my diet coke into the pool. How in the world had computers entered into a pool game? Really? When I asked my cousin if they were "computer-inlined" at home, he merely shook his head and was also a bit suprised when I explained the game that they had invented. So, is this a bad thing or are they just "with it" when it comes to computers?

Jury Duty can kiss it

Today, I sit in an over-crowded, over-air conditioned, and overwhelming jury duty waiting area hoping that my name is not called so that I can go back to work tomorrow and make some money. That said, they have internet access! Apparently, the biggest complaint of waiting jurors was that they couldn't be productive while waiting to be called. The courts listened and put in seven computers with access to the internet. Granted, it costs me five dollars for an hour but at least it means that I can get some work done for my three very computer intensive classes. One potential juror wondered if they had wi-fi access and they said that if enough people write it up in the suggestion box, it could happen. Apparently, many assumed that they already had it because I see a lot of dormant laptop cases sitting around the room. Wi-fi during jury duty = a beautiful and productive idea...We shall see.

The evils of craigslist.com in the hands of 5th graders

Today I substituted 5th graders. No easy feat. They are working on a project where each group is given one million dollars (add Dr. Evil accent for emphasis) and has the task of creating a non-profit organization. Sounded like a pretty fun task until we went to the computer lab and jumped on the computers. Running around and monitoring 20-something screens was no easy task. Especially when they had to research offices and warehouses for their projects. I had the brilliant idea of having them go on to craigslist.com. After about two minutes, I quickly realized that a few of them had "point and clicked" into the dangerous territories of personal ads and "domestic" help. Needless to say, Craigslist.com ended right there. I can only pray that this little event hasn't spread to administration.

Who says long distance doesn't work?

I just got done having a conversation with my girlfriend. Her boyfriend, whom she met in Africa and now lives in his home country of Switzerland, and her are trying to maintain a long-distance relationship. Ten years ago, the phone bills would have been extraordinary and I would have not given her more than a few weeks of trying to maintain the expense. But thanks to the wonders of technology, she and he talk about every other night on the phone FOR FREE! She said that he found some free website where you can sign up and then talk to someone completely on the other side of the world for free. She couldn't remember the site because her wonderful boyfriend and set it up. But basically, are you hearing this??? Free talking and text messaging, ya heard!

I have another girlfriend who recently moved away from her boyfriend but is trying to also maintain the relationship. I, the skeptic, had little faith that they would stay together. But seven months after she moved, they are still going strong. Their secret is IChat (I think that's what it's called). Every night, they sit down at their computer and have FACE TO FACE conversations with each other, FOR FREE!

So, minus the desire for being able to touch a significant other, this whole long-distance computer-aided relationship idea seems to be working for many. Now all I have to do is find someone who lives far away and then start my own long-distance relationship. This would be simply to test this idea.

Technology and Cancer, really useful

Random of random, I flew to Salt Lake City yesterday because a close friend of mine who has been diagnosed with cancer is not doing too well. He is drugged up on morphine right now so I thought I would take the opportunity to blog about technology. Nestled in the beautiful Wasatch mountains, the Huntsman Cancer Center is the place to go for cancer in the Northwest. Patients receiving platelets (spelling? i'm not the cancer pro just yet) can sit in a recliner and watch any cable network on their own personal recliner. A computer lab is situated on every floor so that patients, families, and friends can keep others informed or play a game of online bridge. Moreover, your health records from any Utah (most states have or are jumping onto this program) medical center can be accessed through this really cool program. This helped so that when Judd, my mohawk-wearing friend who happens to have cancer and hair, was admitted here a few months ago, his records were immediately available. Pretty cool stuff. I know where to go if I get cancer.

Blogs in High School

I am glad that we learned how to create blogs because I have a couple of friends who keep blogs and I have always felt so left out. Now, I'm part of the it group, right?

My brother teaches in Brooklyn, New York and he implements blogs into his high school English class on a weekly basis. He posts topics on the blog and then has his students respond to the blog either in class or at home. He has asked that my mom and I occasionally post blogs and add our own little insight. It has been an eye-opener to read some of his students opinions and ideas. He is struggling his students lack of spell check, grammar, and capitalization - their thoughts and ideas are there, they just lack organization. He is afraid that if he stresses the micro side of writing, he might lose the macro side of ideas and opinions.

If you want to see the site, it's www.rolapp.blogspot.com

Technology and Jesicah

I would like to think of myself as a relatively computer savvy adult. I can navigate through the internet, troubleshoot my moody printer, and even drop pictures into photobucket. I check my email pretty regularly (ok, and myspace). Unfortunately, that is pretty much where I stop. Because computers have pretty much always been a part of my life, I think I take it as I go and learn skills when I need to know them.

I had not realized how connected I was to my cell phone until last summer when I spent a few weeks in Europe sans computer, cell phone, and sanity. Seeing an Italian train door close on you as your perplexed friend and you desperately attempt to open the jammed door is a terrifying thought when there are no methods of communication other than good ole f2f communication.

In teaching, I hope to teach my high school English students the importance of basic word processing skills. (Two spaces after a period, please!) I think that presenting well-formatted and grammatically correct documents is key to being professional. That said, I'm sure Hari or someone will point out some glaring mistake that I have made in this blog!