Friday, November 18, 2011

Social Networking: A Digital Scrapbook of Life


Some have wanted to read what I wrote for my essay, so I figured I'd post it and see what you guys think. 
> Jake 
Social Networking: A Digital Scrapbook of Life


Conversations: They have been a part of our daily life forever. From chats around the fireplace with grandpa about World War II, to sitting in cozy leather chairs at the downtown Starbucks with a boyfriend or girlfriend talking about their day. Conversations are something we as humans can hardly live without. As humans we are made to be social. In today’s society, our conversations are now taken at speeds sometimes faster than light, up to space in a satellite, back down to earth and projected either across town, across a nation, and even across the world. Conversations have taken to the internet. But you, the reader already know that, considering you’re more than likely reading this on a computer with an internet connection.
Since the start of the Internet in the mid-1990’s, lives have slowly progressed online.  It started with e-mail, which was originally conceived by Ray Tomlinson in the early 70’s, and later mass created by America Online and Delphi, in 1993. This gave us a version of the letter, which can be sent back and forth to each other online.  From there e-mail progressed to IM, or ‘Instant Messages’, and also on a group level expanded to ‘chat rooms’. These conversations are comparable to one on one conversations, to group conversations; both without seeing each other.
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Two gentlemen by the names Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson created MySpace in 2003.  This site was revolutionarily groundbreaking in the fact that you had your own ‘web page’, which gave you free room to spread your news to not just the one friend, but to ALL of your friends. Photos can be uploaded from last night’s party, you can post your mood, or you can even share a song. These things are a collection of you and your personality.
It is imperative for a company to find a way to keep their website fresh and on the cutting edge. If not, they can lose their ‘King of the Hill’ status.  Mid-2004 to 2008, a Harvard student by the name of Mark Zuckerberg started typing computer codes to create ’Facebook’ (at the time, titled ‘Thefacebook”).  This site still reigns as “King of the Hill”!  It appears that it will stay that way for quite some time.  Facebook is not just for music and entertainment.  It can encompass your entire online social life. A quote from the film inspired by this phenomenon explains what Facebook is.  “People want to go online and check out their friends, so why not build a website that offers that?  Friends, pictures, profiles, whatever you can visit, browse around; maybe it’s someone you just met at a party.  Eduardo, I’m not talking about a dating site. I’m talking about taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online.” – Mark Zuckerberg’s character, Social Network (2010).”




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Our world has become greatly advanced.  We can only assume that will all these advancements, made in such a relatively short period of time; some type of backlash would eventually spring up. Such backlash has included: security threats and higher rates of miscommunication.  Earlier this year, Facebook’s owner, Mark Zuckerberg, had his Fan page hacked.  This prompted two new security advancements to take effect.  One had users identify photos of their friends, and the other was an offer of ‘https’ connection, which is simply a more secure version of the original “http” add-on to the web address.  With the addition of these security advancements, the hackers have a much more difficult time getting into someone else’s account.   Having to figure out methods for prevention of such intrusions, is just one of the downfalls of social networking.
Not only is hacking an issue, as it has been for years, even outside the social sites, but cyber bullying has taken many tolls on lives. From catty girls posting comments on another girl’s photo about her weight, to jocks harassing homosexuals about who they are as a person, lives have been brutally altered. Some have even ended. The computer has given anyone a voice to harass and belittle someone without directly saying it to his or her face.
According to the website SignalNews.com, a study that was conducted by the Pew Research Center observed popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find who is being naughty or nice online. After the study, it was found that 69% of teens and their peers were neutrally nice to each other, a 20% of them said peers were mean, and 11% claimed that “it depends.” It goes on to state that nearly every teen that’s accessed the sites has witnessed others being mean or harassments taking place. This all translates
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from behind the illuminated screens into reality, simply because someone did not like what someone else posted. It escalates into gossip, and spreads like wildfire, because instead of just a group passing a single note, it is now a group text to not just within one school, but to friends in another school, and another, and yet another.  Soon enough, someone the victim doesn’t even know, thinks she is a skank for sleeping with the jock, or the gay guy has a crush for every other guy around.  Yet no one really knows this person, but thinks they do just because of hearsay. Events like this ruins reputations, and ultimately lives, because teenagers do not understand how to handle the stress of so much hatred and lack of compassion for who they are.
As this has taken a rise, groups have been forming to help teenagers, and even young adults cope with cyber bullying. Groups such as NoH8, and Britain’s beatbullying.org have started to give victims of cyber bullying a helping hand towards getting ‘back on their feet’. In BeatBullying’s ‘about us’ section, they believe in the following: “that bullying contradicts the basic British values of fair play, social justice, aspiration, opportunity, respect - it is something the whole nation must act collectively to eradicate, so we can really support the millions of young people who lie in bed at night terrified to go to school the next morning.” If the social networking world started to take these values to heart, it would severely decrease and exterminate cyber bullying and online harassment, making the World Wide Web a far nicer community than it is now.
           


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With how fast the world is moving forward technologically, social networking is something that is very hard to ignore anymore. It’s not just where lives are displayed, but it’s also where companies are advertising. It’s where media is beginning to dwell. (It’s projected that Facebook advertising in the US alone will top 5.7 billion in ad revenues this upcoming year). With Facebook ultimately being the ‘Google’ of social networking, the site is teaming up with news companies, movie streaming sites, and video games to develop ‘apps’ for Facebook, so users don’t even have to change sites. Just slide over to the Netflix app to watch a movie while chatting with your friend on the same Internet window. This is just the start of it all. The future is really unknown, and with the speed that things travel now, it’s only going to become more of an impact in daily lives. People will have to cope and understand how to fully use sites in order to live at a relative peace.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Buying The Year: A Chick Fil A Employee Contest

Firstly: This is completely within the rules of the contest.

Tomorrow, or as some of you may be reading, today, is the start of a contest held for employees of Chick Fil A in Bakersfield. It's not a major contest, but the winner of the contest gets dinner and a movie. The goal, you may ask? Well, the employee who sells the most 2012 Chick Fil A Cow Calendars wins. The deadline is the end of December. Buy one. Buy seventy, and give them out as gifts! It's better than fruitcake, or used candy from last year...and grandma in idaho would actually enjoy this!

I'm totally shameless plugging myself on this, but I'd really love to win a free meal and movie. Especially because it'd mean a great date night for my girlfriend and I. If you so choose to help me out to win, you HAVE to buy from me at the store. 

"Well Jake, what if you're not in there when I am, and we miss each other?" 

Well, you can buy from someone else if you so choose, however, if you want to help me, I always try to post my daily hours I'm there on my facebook or twitter account. I hope for as much support as possible, as I'm a very competitive guy, but also a good loser to the one that wins in the end. 

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Busy Life Part Two

Went on a date friday night. Nothing too elegant. But it definitely was amazing. For starters, I'm a very simple guy. I'm comfortable with just dinner and a movie. And that was exactly what we did. Back tracking a little bit here for those that don't know: Yes, I have a girlfriend now, and let it be said that she is amazing, and I could never ask for anyone better.


Friday was cold and rainy. I had the day off from work, and I had the morning to polish some last minute homework before picking her up. Well I end up running a little late, I get to her place, say hi to the parents, and we're off on our date. My grandma gave me a gift card to Olive Garden for my birthday, with the intent to possibly use it on a date, which is exactly what happened with it. Now, there's a reason she gave me a gift card to Olive Garden: My grandmother was adamant about not having a facebook because the news kept telling her of all the security issues. Well, in due time us grandkids and her own kids got her convinced to get one, since that is the easiest way for her to see what everyone is up to on a day to day basis. Because she broke down and got one, she saw that back in September, I went to Olive Garden by myself for dinner. Well, for my birthday she got me a gift card, and on the back wrote "date night? Maybe?"

I think it's a great testament to social networking right there and how great it can be at times. 


Anyways, onward with the night's story...

I pick up Jami and we head off in her car, because I was tired of driving the family Expedition, and her Mercedes is admittedly a lot of fun to drive. We catch an early afternoon showing of In Time, and really enjoy it. Although I still don't get how some of my co-workers and other people think I look like Justin Timberlake. That's what I've been told, and I guess it's a compliment. After the movie got out, it started to rain a bit, and it was really cool because we kissed in the rain...first time that's ever happened and I gotta say that it's amazing when it does. 

After the movie we throw on some music, and head over to Olive Garden. Ended up having to wait 30 or so minutes so we run back to her car in the rain, and wait. What was really fun is that we passed the time watching the Office on her phone on netflix. How awesome is technology, right? 

Dinner was amazing. Any chance to just sit and talk, I take. I love that. Just sitting and talking. You can talk for hours about anything and it's completely comfortable. Especially with Jami. I can never be bored in a conversation with her, because the conversation just rolls from one topic to the next and it's just so naturally comfortable. I really love it. :) 

After dinner she had to get a HMDI cable, and I had a gift card to spend at Best Buy, so we spend the rest of the night wandering the aisles of the store finding stuff to buy. After I finally decide what I want (Captain America on Blu-Ray, and a rad pair of Sony headphones), we jet over to Starbucks for coffee, and spend more time talking. 

It's mushy, and some will end up posting 'gag' or 'get a room' etc. But I don't care. I mean it when I say she's awesome. I really couldn't be any happier with anyone else, and I really hope and pray this relationship lasts. It should, considering we're both keeping God at the center of it, and taking our time with it all. Especially considering we have all the time in the world! She's everything I could ever ask for. 

Now I've gotta get some other projects done for the night. My bro Austen and I have the start of the Winter Light  next week, and I have to work on the video for the show. I'll try to keep up with blogging, since I've got some complaints that I've been distant with it lately. Hope to post soon! 

Busy Life Part One

Seems like I only really get to post weekly updates anymore, instead of individual updates. It's been a week since I've been to Disneyland, and I wish I was still there. It's hard to get enough of the resort. I love Disneyland, but it felt refreshing not going for a while. I was pretty burned out for a bit, considering all the fan site stuff that's been going on. It wears a person down when you hear so many people negatively rant about how such a wonderful company 'does' so many things 'wrong'. What they fail to realize is that they ultimately have no stopping power over what they do, and pretty much the only thing that the fans CAN do is not go. Which to me, and other 'casual' fans of the company, would definitely not be a problem, all things considered.
With that, here's some photos of the trip from last Sunday.
 The much traveled grapevine. Easy traffic, considering it was early Sunday morning and raining.
Picking up snacks! 

                                               
"The best part of waking up is....something hot and somewhat drinkable in my cup!"
And this is what it looks like when it rains here. 
Oh, and big rigs jack knife on the freeways..

                                                
Because Austen, myself, and Megan (big sister who doesn't work there anymore) work(ed) at Chick Fil A, we both were laughing when we realized the cars parked next to each other looked like honey mustard and Chick Fil A sauce.
We're ready! :D 

    
Stopped raining for now...but we're all bundled up! 

Ready to rock! 
                                            
And back to cold wetness...
Awesome singing people! And signing! 
Comedic gold. One of the funniest guys at the resort. 

 Not going to see these for long! Thankfully I got a ride in this trip, and I'll get one in with my girlfriend on the next trip in December! 
 Am I missing something...or are these signs new? 

 Pirates almost all done!

LOVE this overlay.

 And this little house goes: "Nawm nawm nawm all the way home"

"Megan! It's a grouper!" - John
 Intent Stare.
 
Meh. (On the right) didn't do so hot this time.

 Classy people...please come back to Disneyland.

 Rock on? Yea. Rock on.

 Cute Couple! :D

 OOOHHH Artsy!

"what?"

 #SeewhatIdidthere?

And This is going to be a beautiful addition to the park! Can't wait to see it completed.

YAWM YAWM!

John just goes all in...

Gas boy is happy gas boy for product placement!
(he works for Chevron)

Walked into Blue Sky Cellar..
anyone notice the sign going into Condor Flats 
no longer states "Condor Flats"? 

John, Megan and Emily on Screamin!
(oh, and notice the logo still has mickey ears, but the new Paradise loop on the left) 

Fantasmic! It's been forever since we've seen this. 

I've got a soft spot for the dragon. Maybe because I started the twitter AA deal with Maleficent.
Either way, it's awesome. 

And ending the night walking back down Main Street. 


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Holidays at Home

My mom and sister are awesome. I've been giving them a hard time about it at home, but I really do mean it when I say that. They've spent the last two or so days around the house getting it decorated for Christmas. Here's some shots I took of some of the awesome stuff so far.







Saturday, November 5, 2011

Late night Late Thoughts

It's 1:30 in the morning, everyone's out of the house now, and I just polished up some final homework for the week. Now I'm getting stuff ready for the rest of the weekend, since I'll be working, then spending the night at my bro's house after our shift's tomorrow, then leaving from his place with our group to go to Disneyland on Sunday morning.

Now all I have to do is pack my stuff and make sure I have everything.

But real quick note about some stuff...

Captain America was a great film, and I'm really looking forward to the Avengers in May.

Cars 2..this is where some people might get confrontational, but I really enjoyed it. I don't see how some thought it was 'being green', when the film ended with natural/organic gas still being used. Either way, the animation was amazing, and humor was well done.

Oh, and I want to throw this out there that my girlfriend is amazing. By far one of the sweetest, most caring people I've known. From earlier this week, she stopped by work to bring me cold medicine and cough drops, and she told me tonight her parents are taking her and I to Disneyland right after Christmas as a present. It feels great to feel this happy.

With that, I'm gonna go pack up for the rest of the weekend and be all mushy romantic. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day after the wreck

I'm in math class right now, but I figured I'd give y'all a short update. I feel fine today. Not sore at all, had my work shift today, and now I've got class then a birthday party for my brother later tonight. I DO have a doctor appointment tomorrow to make sure I really am fine, and if there's ever any possible long term issues, we have it documented. My mom drove over to the junk yard today to get pics of my car during the day. They're currently on my iPhone right now, but I'll post those later tonight when I get a chance to upload those to my computer at home (sucks to have a laptop that's not an apple product like everything else I have...but I'll switch laptops later on when I have some spare cash). For now, I must thank everyone for the well wishes and prayers, I'm REALLY deeply appreciative of it, and glad I have such great people that care for my well being.

Now back to learning about 10's to the third power. ;) 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Nothing is Sound

It's an interesting blog title, especially for this topic, but with Switchfoot, a lot of their songs can relate a lot to life in general. Nothing is Sound. What does that mean? Well, one definition of that is the adjective version: "free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; in good condition; healthy". So with that, nothing is free from damage. That's especially relevant to tonight. 






Tonight I was in my first car accident. 










I'm obviously fine, since I'm blogging this, but I'm definitely a bit shaken up about it. To explain what happened, I was on my way home from Chick Fil A. I had a 12-8 shift today, and was about 10 minutes away from my house on a road I consistently drive. I had some music on, singing along and keeping happy. I tend to get some drivers of lower to the ground cars flash their high beams at me thinking I have mine on, which isn't the case. Well, tonight this guy did the same, but within a split second of doing that, he swerved into my lane and side-swiped me. It pushed me off the road and I was able to keep my cool about it, and not over correct myself which in the case I did, would have resulted in a rollover. However, I kept steady and maintained control. 


The gentleman ends up crashing into a row of a vineyard on my side of the road. After I stopped, I got out and checked to see if he was ok, which he thankfully was. After calling my mom and the police, everyone comes out and we get the stuff settled. 


The guy that hit me? Yea...he was DRUNK.



The guy's in jail, my car's in the junkyard, and I'm here at my desk alive. I can't help but thank God for being alive right now. If you look at the photos, you'll realize like I did that if I was a mere second behind the time where I was on the road, this had a high chance of being a head on collision. I was beyond lucky tonight. Call it karma, luck, guardian angels. Call it what you want, I don't care. But this was definitely amazing to see that I was THAT close to either a major injury, or death. And after more than a dozen texts, and A LOT of comments/tweets/wall posts later, I love that my friends are quick to hope I'm ok. I have some of the best people in my life, and I can't be any more thankful than I am for that. 


And as a final close to this post, people, PLEASE do not drink and drive. This is the effects of it. And this isn't even the worse part. Sure it's busted car, but you can't put a price on a life. You can always buy another car. I don't try to post about the cliches of 'don't drink' or 'don't have sex before marriage' because there's always those people that overdo it. But since I've had to deal with that topic and the near-death of myself tonight, I just want to leave it at that. Just don't drink and drive. It's not worth it. Pay for a cab. 

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