My Wiki Experience :)

Well first off, I didn’t have a partner for this assignment. I missed class the day partners were assigned, and go figure I was the only one who missed class that day. So I went about this on my own, which is okay, because I actually like working on assignments alone better. Sometimes when I work with a partner I feel like I can’t quite do something the way I might want it done. So this one is all me, and it is about something that really only I can write about.

This is an Actual Picture of my Town

                I chose to write my Wiki How on how to adjust from living in a small town to a large city like Buffalo. Now I know some of you are going to argue that Buffalo is not a large city, but for me it is. I grew up in a crazy small town. And when I saw small I mean small. Where I grew up is Hamlin New York, most people only know of it by Hamlin Beach State Park as we are right on Lake Ontario. The next thing we are known for is being a short 10-15 minute drive from Brockport NY, where SUNY Brockport is. That’s about all of our highlights.                                                  



This is my Squirrel- His name is Sammy



                Pretty much everyone is town has grown up there their whole lives, and some like me, move away eventually, but most come back. It’s oddly one of those places you come back to after years of being away. We have essentially 1 road that goes through the whole town, and a few very small roads to connect the farms and houses. We also only have 1 stop light in the whole town. That’s not something you get everywhere.



                So I thought that I can’t be the only person in my situation, moving to a larger city from a very very small, country, town. I know for me it was a rather frightening experience, so I thought it had to be for other people, and it would be great if I could possibly help out some people who are attempting to do the same thing. So I decided to write a Wiki How on Adjusting to big city living if you grew up like I did.



                I put down a bunch of “steps”. I put quotations on these because they are not necessarily steps, but they are more like guidelines on making your transition easier. I included things like finding grocery stores that are similar to yours at home, experimenting with public transportation and even things like going out and trying new things.

                I tried to write about things that were important to helping me transition. For instance, the grocery store. As small as it seems, it really is something that can make you more comfortable. I never stepped foot into a Wegman’s until I came to Buffalo. I grew up with Big M and IGA. I grew up knowing everyone who worked in the store, including the Butcher, who also happens to be my father. I could call and order something and never have to give my name, they knew me by voice. I could walk around the store and know everyone who was shopping there. They could be my teachers, my neighbors, and my relatives. I really was a place where you knew everyone.

                Experimenting with Public Transportation was probably the hardest for me. I grew up having a car, or having a four wheeler or snow mobile to get me places. My version of Public Transportation was having my friends pick me up on the way. Getting on a public bus was something that frightened me, but I was glad that I tried it, and even more happy that I had a car.

                Overall, writing this Wiki How was actually a really great thing. I was able to really put my heart into to try and make someone else’s life a bit easier. I am glad that I was able to write it, because I want people to know what it’s like living in such a small town! I didn’t have any bad experiences writing it, just was a little bit more work because I was by myself. I didn’t get locked out of mine like a few other people did, which is great. I really had fun writing it. I hope that people will read my Wiki How and they will take something away from it. Maybe it will make them more comfortable about their own transition into city living. And I even hope that some people who read it will miss their home, and maybe want to go back, even if it is just for a visit. I love when I go home, it really makes me happy, and makes me miss the simple style of living where you could strike up a conversation with someone walking on the street and it would be ok because you knew them, and would probably see them again later anyways.

                I think the whole Wiki process is a brilliant thing. Being able to post your own stuff on the web, that can potentially really benefit other people is awesome. It's so simple, yet so technically advanced. It allows for a very easy editing program so that virtually anyone can make their own sites with no knowledge of html or editing at all. It creates a user friendly type of system. It gets people involved in different ways, whether you are writing, editing, or just browsing. I feel that the whole Wiki process was created by something with the intention of bringing people from different backgrounds, educations, religions, ethnicities, and internet knowledge together to form one collective database.

                I hope everyone can experience this type of living once in their life time, where you can actually relax, and enjoy the company of friends, and you won’t be bothered by traffic, by phone calls, or by rude people. You can sit out by a campfire with just two friends, and an hour later there is thirty of you there all laughing and having a great time. It’s something I will always cherish and hope that I can hold with me for the rest of my life, and I secretly wish to move back there when I am done with college, but I don’t think my boyfriend will like that very much.

Web 2.0

          "Web 2.0 is all about openness and freedom," says Kris Lamb, director of the IBM Internet Security Systems division's X-Force security research organization. "You're really tearing down the traditional barriers that have kept companies safe."

This quote I think sets the pace to how I feel about web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a rather scary thing to me at times. To read stories and find out that people can create a social networking page that is just filled with Malicious codes to set viruses into peoples computers is horrible. The fact that one myspace page infected over 1 million users is rediculous. Who knows, I could have been affected. I know I was subject to some nasty viruses from AIM years back that I ended up having to proctically wipe my computer. I can't imagine the types of hard core viruses that there are out right now.

One thing that struck my attention from the readings was that at the beginning, Web 2.0 really didn't mean anything. It was meerly a name given to it to try and spark interest in it again, and frankly, I think it worked. The 2.0 in the web actually meant things that were going to be coming, and they were right, there was a lot of new things that were coming. The biggest thing according to those involved in web 2.0 was "ajax" which to them basically meant that Javascript now worked. Which as I'm sure we are all aware of, really sucked before that. This in it of itself caused a whole new wave of programs to be createdto utilize ajax. There hasnt been a wave of applications like this since microcomputers first appeared.

Web 2.0 means using the web the way it was meant to be. So the new trends that are popping up everywhere are the result of the web being used in the correct way. This is a reason why google is so popular and seems to be ahead of the curve. They are using web 2.0 the way it was meant to be used. They don't sit there and try to force things to happen, they take a more proactive approach and try to figure things out before they happen. Some examples of these is in the way Google has utlized Ajax in Google Maps, Gmail, and some of their other web based programs. They certainly have been successful at doing it right.

First time using the Internet...

I'm sure that I used the internet before this time, but this is the time where I remember using the Internet the most. I was pretty young, probably in 5th or 6th grade, and we just got or first computer at home. It was one of those massive computers. The monitor was huge, and the fan was loud. We only had one computer in the house, and we all had to share, and there was six of us sharing

I think what I remember the most was the slow dial up AOL. The horrible noise it made when you were signing on to the internet, and the 10 years it seemed to take to get there. I think what my parents remembered most was how we always tied up the phone line when we were on the computer, which they were never very happy about.

My sister and I shared a Screen Name on AOL instant messenger; they said I was too young for my own. So we shared Sync5 (We were N'Sync fanatics!) and we each had our own little section of Buddy Lists. It actually used to get pretty annoying because it never seemed to be the right person when someone would IM you. They were always looking for my sister when I was online, and vice versa.

I'm pretty sure that most of the time I was just online looking at N'Sync and Backstreet Boys websites, being the crazy fan I was, and the other time was usually spend playing games at Games.com, when it was still free. Looking back now, it was the coolest thing ever... and I never really did anything.

My least favorite memory of the early internet was only having so many hours of AOL to use a month, and my parents making us have a log so they knew who was on the internet the most and when it was going to run out. But not worries, we always just went and got one of those CD's that AOL gave out with so many free hours on them. I was so happy the day we went to internet that didn't need the phone line.

This weekend was crazy

Ok, so I think I might have just done something crazy... but it would have also been crazy if I didn't do it. I'm already working 3 jobs. I work 20 hours a week as a supervisor at the Information Desk, 10 hours a week Marketing for Sodexo, and a few hours here and there a week Banquet serving (usually about 10 a week). Plus I am taking 15 credits. Well I just got a call from YNN offering me an Internship. So now I have 3 jobs and an internship and a full class load.

I will be surviving on coffee and energy drinks this semester.

Not to mention that this week was the opening weekend for NFL, so I was busy with Fantasy football, and watching the game. But the Bills game was boring so my boyfriend and I decided to lay down a new kitchen floor, which looks great.

And now it's back to Monday, and I'm already downing coffee. Hello week!

Some reasons why I don't like people...

Well for starters, after working 4 years at the Information Desk in the Student Union, I have a new found hate for people just fopr the lack of respect people have. Some people will just be the most rude people on the planet for no reason, especially when you deserve any part of it.

Secondly, I just moved to buffalo officially (finally off campus) and I think I move into a nice area in south Buffalo, and I'm thinking everything is dandy. And I drive a really nice ( in my opinion) car, it's a 2010 Kia Soul, and i love it. So I come home to my apartment at 10 pm and eat dinner, go to sleep and get ready to be back on campus at 8 in the morning. I come out at 7 am, and what do I find!? My CAR IS KEYED! But not even just a scratch or so, no, they decide to leave their opinion of my car... in my car. My back drivers side door now says "Yur car is shit" and my driver door says "srry :)" and one long gash in my hood.

I hate people.

First Post...

Well, this is my first post. I have never been much of a blogger, but we shall see how this goes. I love to complain and vent so I guess this will be a good outlet for it haha.

Well making my blog was very easy, yet I was suprised by how many names I wanted were taken... and names I wouldn't have thought... like my first name and last name. It's not a very common name so I was a bit surprised.

I will hopefully try to be good about posting in here. I'm sure you will all read my complaining a lot. Sometimes I just really don't like people.