Guest Speaker - Derek Young

Derek Young came in to talk to us on October 29th. Derek is a very successful entrepreneur who helped start Exit133.com and was one of the original runners of the Tacoma Runners. I think the whole Tacoma Runners group is very cool because it was people who got together through social media and they all didn't know each other, but got together to run all because of a single social media post. After being together for a little while more and more people joined the Tacoma Runners group until they needed to set up a board of members who will run the now non-profit organization. Their successful events raise money so that they can go places such as, The Great Wall of China in the future. They raise money in their events to help pay for the people who want to go to these different places to run so that the runners hardly have to pay anything out of pocket if anything at all! I would be very interested in running with them sometime here in the future!

What I would NOT buy online

First, let me start off with the things that I would buy, like new shoes from a trusted company, and maybe like some jeans or shorts or maybe some shirts. Basically I would be willing to buy clothing from online because I know that if it doesn't fit then I can just simply return it and get a new sixe or a new piece of clothing all together. Some things I would not buy online would be things that you can not return, such as, food from a "local" grocery store. I say "local" because you may think you are getting it from the store you are ordering from but you really have no idea where it is coming from! Another thing I would not buy online would be, anything that you have to test it before you buy it, like a car, or used appliances. If you buy it online before testing it out you can be in for a load of trouble. Like the car could have engine problems and they didn't tell you about it, but it's your problem now! So make sure to know what you are buying from online sources.

HTML page Construction

Today, I finished creating my first web page. It was difficult for me because I was very confused on what to do. Like the wording in the instructions were sometimes easy to me and other times it seemed very confusing. But after finishing the page, it was very cool to see it all come together in one area and actually be successful! Even though it was difficult for me and hard to understand, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit because it was a new adventure and quest to conquer. I might try making a page on my own for fun and see how it goes. I would try to make it more complex of course though.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

A while back we did a scavenger hunt in groups while in class. It was fun seeing what we could find on the internet... but also scary...  Like how we could find our professors sister's names online without even being friends with him on any social networking site. Anna Floth has the link to our work. Her Blog name is, ":)".

Guest Speaker - Erik Hanberg

The author Erik Hanberg came into class to talk to us about being out on the internet and how to be safe but successful. Erik's know mostly for his book, The Lead Cloak: The Lattice Trilogy, Book 1. Erik published his own books and sold them exclusively on Amazon; which for an independent writer is extremely hard, but Erik (if I can remember correctly) was on Amazons top sellers for a brief time. Which again, is incredible for an independent writer!

Erik talked to us in class bout how easy it is to "swat" someone online. He explained it to be as easy as calling the police on your neighbor. These kinds of things keep me weary and away from the internet a bit because I'm not wanting to have my identity stolen, or my card information stolen, etc., but I also know that you can besafe on the internet by just simply watching what information you put out their on certain sites.

The Machine is Us/ing us.

The video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" is exactly what I think of when I think of the Internet. Things can be said, but rearranged, and switched, and deleted, and re-entered; all with complete ease and no effort. Technology will only get easier, faster and more user friendly as time goes on because with each generation that comes is another step closer to being amongst robots. Technology is the real life sci-fi that we always imagined and wished for, but if the human race doesn't keep updating themselves then they will fall behind and never stay up to date and will also never understand the new and improved phones/laptops/tablets etc. So in my opinion, its a never ending vicious but entertaining cycle that wont stop until the technology controls us. So I think that technology will be controlling our lives and since we started it, it can't be stopped. Welcome to the end, brought to you by the technology that we can't put down.

What Do I Want To Get Out of This Class

 After being in this class for a little while, I am looking forward to learning about just how much technology can effect the average person in what we call the "Rat Race"; in the pursuit of fame and fortune. At this point I am not pursing a technology major, but I do know that technology is very important, and growing immensely. I also know how dangerous it is to be online and I would love to learn how to protect myself from the online threats. These are the main things I want to get out of TINST 207.