This is the end my only friend the end

Well my fellow English folk, it appears we have reached the end. Ironically, this is also my last day of classes at UW as I am going to pharmacy school in Midwestern (near Chicago) next fall. Good luck to all of you on your finals and future endeavors. In the words of Semisonic:

"So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits
I hope you have found a friend.
Closing time - every new beginning
Comes from some other beginning's end."

Final paper and more

Well the editing and advice given by you guys has helped shaped the direction of my paper. I have to admit, I wasn't very confident in my rough draft, but I feel better about the direction of my paper now. I look forward to completing the final draft and getting this thing done. Has anyone started thinking about what they are doing in their group next week? I think my sound editing group will have to get together sometime and go over some stuff (cough cough Kate and Jack cough cough). Well, good luck to everyone with these last 2 weeks of school and finals!

Wiki Reflection

This collaborative Wiki project has been a unique experience to say the least. Choosing audio editing was a completely random choice, but I am glad I did it. I have learned a lot about a new topic and, while working collaboratively with Jack and Kate, I have learned about Wikis too.
When the Wiki portion of this project was introduced, I was skeptical. I has used Wikipedia tons in my day, but had never edited or created anything in it. Then, I noticed there was no Wiki for Code It Software under the Writing Technology Wiki, so I had to create my own. I wasn’t sure where to start so I looked at other Wiki entries under the main writing technology page. I found that Audacity, a fellow sound editing program in which Jack happened to be working on, was very well presented so I decided to outline my page like that one. I went to the Code It website and gathered some information on what they have to offer on their software (i.e. version, prices, effects, etc.). Then, I used my own personal experiences with the software to determine the strengths and weaknesses of it. Finally, I used what I presented in class to say how this software can be used in the classroom to change writing. I think when it all came together it looks professional so I am happy with it.
My experience with Wikipedia wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. I did run into a few problems when trying to insert a picture into my page and also with text issues, but other than that everything went fairly smoothly. I am happy that I have this knowledge to use in the future if I ever want to edit/create a Wiki page.
My other group members were very instrumental in my page too. They provided insight on some things and asked for clarification on things that weren’t clear. I am happy they went out of their way to make sure my page was concise and well organized. I had the chance to look over their pages and made very few changes because they did such an awesome job.
The main page for our technology also needed some work. Kate took the lead on this because her page needed the least work, while Jack and I mainly edited our pages. Kate did a wonderful job of working on the main page to introduce our technology and provide the reader with much needed direction on where to find more information on our individual software.
All in all, the collaborative Wiki project taught me a lot about my software as well as Wikipedia. I am confident in the use of my technology in the writing classroom. The Wiki pages of our group are very well done and I hope we can present them well in class to everyone. I hope everyone else had good luck with their project too and I want to thank my group again for the hard work.

I can't think of a creative title

I am not sure if we need to blog or not this week so I will anyways. I am hard at work on my paper and it is actually pretty interesting. I interview a pharmacist on Saturday so that is exciting.

I also have had the best day of my life today, but the blog will not do it justice. I will fill you in on Monday.

Good luck with your papers everyone! Happy Easter!

Boo to Formatting

Well, I have finished my annotated bibliography at the expense of relearning MLA. Why the heck are there different formats, why can't all the formats get along and be one big happy format? That would be nice. Turns out these people actually have conferences, I suppose things are changing a lot. That might be the single most boring thing on Earth.

Anyways, onto the actual paper. My technology is automated medication dispensers in pharmacies and I am wondering how you think Ihde would classify this technology, embodiment, hermeneutic, or both? I am thinking both right now but am I somewhat stumped. We, the pharmacy staff can change what the dispenser does. Its like when we talked about the blind man with his cane, the automated dispenser is like a cane to a pharmacy employee, so we experience the world THROUGH the machine. Also, the relation can be hermeneutic in that the pharmacy staff has to learn how to use the technology. They also have to adjust it when different drugs are put in the machine. Therefore the person is having an experience OF the machine in order to use it. Let me know what you think.

Finally, I would like to conclude that for the first time in my life, I got successfully "April Fooled" by my mom yesterday. She said I got a bank statement from my old bank and wondered why I didn't close the account, saying it still had 900 dollars in it. I fell for it, and she will never live it down.

I hope everyone's projects are going well and that the Wiki's are being too stupid.

Reactions to Ihde

I have been slowly making progress on getting my head around this Ihde stuff we've been discussing. The most intriguing thing to me is when a machine makes you experience the world differently, like a blind man with a cane. I didn't realize how much I experience this everyday. For instance, I experience this with glasses because I have difficulty seeing things far away, and every time I use my cell phone. I am still trying to think of a way to link this to my project on my technology in my major. I definitely see why Scot said people have used it in the past. I wonder how Ihde would characterize virtual reality...

Lexia makes me Perplexiad

So I have been putzing around with this Lexia to Perplexia thing for awhile now and have come to 2 solid conclusions. First, I am not going to ever understand what the heck I am doing on this site, and second trying to understand gets me nothing but frustrated. Don't get me wrong, it has provided me with an hour of solid entertainment now, but the site makes me feel inadequate, like what I want isn't good enough. I am so used to clicking on a computer and having it do what I want it to, but not here, no way. The fragmentary reading experience provides an insight into what happens between the user clicking and the computer obeying. That's why I think the malfunction of the site is as meaningful as the function of it.