Posted 1:12 PM by Melissa
Internet Filtering Software

It sounds like an intersting topic so I decided to look it up. Internet FilterringSoftware is basically the software that protects your computer form unwanted sites. Also they have software that protects your email form junk and spam, but sometimes your real email falls into that pile. Anyway i never really thought about how this filterting software affects me. I remember in high school when I would log on to a computer at the school I was never able to play games online, which always got on my nerves. Well that was the work of a filtering software blocking me form a place I wanted to go. This is the situation of the public library system in America. Congress wants to or has( I'm not completely sure) passed a law prohibiting certain sites on the internet through the use of the internet filtering software.

The article in the ZDNet newsletter focuses on Congress keeping pornography out of the library. Supreme Court to rule on library filters talks about keeping porn out of public libraries. I think that this is a great effort. So may argue that it is a public place and if of age shoudl be able to do whatever they want. Well if thats the case then they can stay home and do it.

I don't completley understand if this bill is just going ot protect children at the library or anyone who choses to use a public computer.President Bush's main focus is ensuring that children aren't subjected to these porn sites on the internet. He says that it is becoming easily accessible to children, and wants somehting doen. But if the library takes the federal funds they must install filtering.

I'm wondering if people are really pushing that porn be allowed to be viewed in the library where so many kids are present. I also wonder what the library feels about this. Do they feel is somehting they have to do, because their funds are being threatened.

Posted 11:15 PM by Melissa
I'm counting down the days until SPRING BREAK. While I'm doing that I have also decided to go to summer school. The hard part is deciding where exaclty I should take these classes. No one wants to hear me babble so I'll tell you guys out there! :-)

I want to go home for the summer and take classes during the first six weeks summer session, btu the classes that I need to take are only offered in the 12 week semester. This is the case with Calculus 1 with and C programming for non specialists. I'm a Computer engineering major but I feel like I am very behind with where I should be, but I have a plan, lol. Then I was thinking about taking the course up here for the summer, but there is no way I can stay up here for 12 weeks during the ghostown of a summer, especially since I don't have a car and no where to go.

So I've decided to go home for the summer, unfortunately my boyfriend, Vernon, won't be home for the first semester of the summer but away at school, :-(. Anyway, now that I've decided to attend a school as a "transient" student I have to choose between Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International. Since both have campuses near my house it's been hard to choose. But then I look at their course offerings and the times just conflict with each other. Is anything going to work in my favor!??

Also there's another issue( too personal to talk about) that I am involved in that has sort of resurfaced. I thought it was behind me but I knew this day was comign sooner or later. I guess I should be able to explaing the situation since this is my journal! But I just don't feel comfortable. Well that's all for now blogger, later. -melissa

Posted 10:47 PM by Melissa
Dibbell's article was very confusing but interesting. It's hard to believe that a rape can take place online, with completely no physical activity. Having had to deal with a friend in a similar situation it's much harder when you are actually in the predicament. It's easy to say that no one was physically touched therefore it can't be rape. But obviously someone felt violated enough to call it such a serious offense.

As far as this whole Mr. Bugle scheme, it's was weird when he said that he used voodoo to get people to do things to one another in some other spirit. Can that type of thing really happen? That can be rape, or some sort of violation of privacy. I think its crazy for something like that to happen. But boy have I heard some stories that make me wonder.

In this case, rape in cyberspace, seems unbelieveable no matter who is involved. The great thing about chatting online is that you can talk to whoever, whenever you want to. But the downfall is that you never really know who it is you are talking to out there. Unlike people, cyberspace doesn't discriminate. What these guys were doing was wrong but then again if anyone felt uncomfortable couldn't they have just left?
Though I was extremely confused by the article I think that these victims can prevent this from happening by not joining anything that you would feel uncomfortable about.

Posted 6:27 PM by Melissa
File Trading and Music Piracy
I've never really concerned myself with file trading, and it being right or wrong until I was in this class. It wasn't until recently that I've been hearing that burning CDs is "stealing". Well since I dont have a burner and the capacity to burn/download CDs it really hasn't been a big issue to me. But I must admit that if I was able to do it, even after reading the aritcles, I would still trades files. Not to mention I do have a few burned Cds myself.

The article from Music United out right says that file trading is out right stealing. After reading what the artists had to say seem to really piss me off. The artists and songwriters are saying how they work so hard and we are stealing what they work hard for. THey are directly losing any money from downloading music, because if I didn't download it I sure wouldn't buy it. So they should be happy that I'm listening to it at all.

It's like I completely understand where they are coming from but since I'm for it their comments just sound like they are crybabies. :-)

Vanessa Carlton was saying that she agrees with getting a tatse of something before you buy it. Well I'm getting the taste but I have no intentions of buying the CD. But then again I don't burn for example DMX's whole album or any artist's for that matter. When I burn a CD they are older songs by more than one artist.
Which is a point brought up in O'reiley's article. He was saying how his daughter was using file trading to get songs from his generation, not recent things. I think that is what most users do.

Then, here comes Eminem is the Music United article complainging about how we're stealing, He also makes the stupidist comment: "If you can afford a computer, you can afford to pay $16 for my CD." First of all,I think I speak for a vast majority of college students when I say that, college students always need money. Tuition, rent, food, books, etc. eat up all of the little money that we as students have. Students further there education in hopes to make money like many of these famous celebrities.

Also people burn music on public computers as well, so it isn't all about affording a computer.Going to college isn't easy, and sorry Eminem we all can't have our food on a platter like you. I understand that all these singers/writers didnt always have it easy but now they are well established, and file trading is not cutting back on their profits, if anything I think it's helping.

For the most part they are crying broke because of their managers, producers, videos, and labels taking all of their money. Which is the view that Courtney Love came from. It is not because of Kazaa and Napster that these artists don't have any money. They need to read before they sign, or expand their careers to more than just performing, which is what more artists are doing nowadays. She was saying how there were a billion downloads last year and sales were still up. So obviously file trading has nothgn to do wiht it.

I think file trading has a load a benefits before being cast down by artists.