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November 22, 2005
Asian Crisis....Language Network
Today in class we discussed how the example given in “Linked” of the Asian financial crisis. Well just as I have written about in previous blogs topics from other classes always seem to overlap. The book did not go into any details bout the situation so I would like to share what I think I got out of my International Relations class that addressed the same issue. This way I may actually get a better understanding of it myself. Basically Asia was being praised for its economic success especially when compared to Latin America so when they had their crisis it seemed as if it happened out of the blue. While Latin America had an import substitution strategy Asia’s growth was export led. This difference seemed to be making all the difference. Anyhow private companies in Asia were borrowing short-term, low interest loans in dollars. The private markets in Asia were taking on debts from government controlled banks. Since they did not have the finances to pay the money back when needed they resulted to transferring balances since other banks kept offering loans. This went on for a while so know one could tell Asia was getting into trouble. The problem was that all of a sudden the banks stopped offering them loans and they had to pay everyone back at the same time. As a result, Asia suffered a liquidity crisis since they would have been able to service later they just at that moment did not have the money. The IMF is blamed for having exacerbated the situation since Asia did not start off in such a terrible situation but because of the banks pulling out without warning there was nothing they could do. I find it necessary to provide a disclaimer because that is what I understood from the lecture today but I could be way off so excuse any inaccuracies. If you can better explain the phenomenon feel free to do so when posting your comment because I really need to know what I am talking about since it will probably be on the final. Thanks in advance.
Another topic brought up in discussion was to name other networks that have not been brought up. Religion possibly could be a scale-free network since individual languages could be the nodes and Latin could be the hub since it connects so many different languages. There are hundreds of languages in Africa alone and even though one African group may be unable to understand another group there are similarities throughout a few. Going back to Latin it connects Italian, French Spanish, and Portuguese, among others. Even though Latin is considered a dead language since people do not speak it if all the languages with Latin influence no longer had it there would be major differences. English has numerous Latin words especially in the medical field and they simplify knowing the definitions of the words by knowing what the Latin part means. All the languages that were connected by a hub such as Latin would no longer be connected. It would probably be a bit more difficult to learn different languages if you cannot recognize similarities that exist because of the shared origin.
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November 18, 2005
Star Wars...High School...
To begin I would like to comment on my take of Star Wars. I never really got into “Star Wars” but I have seen a couple of the movies but they are just a blur. I found it fascinating the comparison made in class between physics, political science and Star Wars. The reason I find it so interesting is because “Star Wars” has been used in my life to explain other phenomena as well. During my junior year of high school in my English class we studied McCarthyism. We had an assignment which consisted of watching an old movie and analyzing it an essay explaining the presence and effects of McCarthyism in it. I remember the movie I picked was “Roman Holiday” and I thought it was a good movie but I felt the analysis being made was a long shot. My English teacher had the class watch one of the “Star Wars” movies to illustrate how McCarthyism could be seen. After doing the assignment I felt as if any movie can have aspects that can be used as symbols to explain McCarthyism or anything of that matter. In my Confirmation classes at church to my surprise we also watched “Star Wars” this time to compare it to Catholicism. With all these instances in which “Star Wars” was used, I feel as if not every movie can be used to illustrate something but “Star Wars” definitely is.
Another comment made in class that reminds me of a story during high school has to do with one of the groups’ paper. When Professor Yoo explained how the university in Maryland had those fixed desktops in the classroom in which the professor could control what was being displayed on the students’ monitors and view what they were doing. In Lorain Middle School we had that technology. I was in the 8th grade when I was introduced to Microsoft Excel in my computer class. We all had books that contained the assignments but prior to doing them our teacher would show us how. He was able to do this from his own computer. He made it so that everything he did on his computer would show up on our screens. He was also capable of viewing everything we were working on whenever he pleased. I never made anything of this technology since I thought it was the norm in the U.S. To here students in the class so amazed at it came as a shock since my school was always being criticized and here we had technology that we were just taking for granted. What is ironic is how in high school the computer classes I took did not use this technology so I figure they must not have the capabilities but I had not realized earlier.
I have learned many random facts and trivia from “Linked”. The anecdotes inform me about events that I knew nothing of. I do not know of any close friends or relatives that have been afflicted with the love-bug virus and I assume it has to do with the fact that we do not use Microsoft Outlook to e-mail.
Posted by jnl8 at 07:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 10, 2005
Degrees of Separation
“Linked” is by far the best book we have read in class this semester. I have been thinking about the connections I have and the ones I need to make. I took a picture with Jerry Springer last summer because he came to this Lorain Democrat fair to promote John Kerry and I was selling memorabilia at one of the booths. Therefore you guys are all at least one link away to him now not that you guys would want to be. A friend of my uncles was on Maury so I’m one degree of separation from him. It is kind of weird that I have such close links to talk show host since they are criticized about the quality of their shows. I have a link to a Puerto Rican sitcom star but no one here probably knows of him. A link I would like to figure out is between me and Omar Epps. I know I can make it 1 degree of separation but I have to do some investigating. We are cousins through my father’s side of the family. I believe we are second cousins but I only know a small portion of my family on the paternal side since it is so large. I really need to go to a family reunion. Another odd person to be linked to is the guy from the Norton Furniture commercials. He’s the one that says, “If you can’t get credit in my store, you can’t get credit anywhere.” His commercials are pretty bizarre and always have a drawing of his facial profile. A guy I know that goes here went to his store and has a photo with him on his laptop so now you should all be excited about being 2 degrees of separation from him or one if you know him too.
The chapter that addresses the importance of acquaintances makes sense. I do believe friends come in handy too since not everyone has just 1 set. More than likely college students for instance may have a group of friends at home, at school, at work, and online. Even within school there are groups of friends you interact with primarily through schoolwork and others through clubs and the rest may be around for all social gatherings. Obviously there are different levels of friendship but they are still acknowledged as being more than just acquaintances. The formula given in the book that to figure out how close a group of friends is I found to be interesting. The groups of friends I have at Case and outside here do not necessarily combine to join one but they do have more than me to join them. Practically every friend that has come to visit me has run into people they knew and did not even realize went here. It is a small world indeed. My mom used to say that all the time when I was little and as I got older I started to understand. I just did not understand it as a network that was so intertwined.
Posted by jnl8 at 10:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 03, 2005
Poverty and the net
Week 9
So much can be said about “Internet Galaxy” because of the array of topics Castells addressed. The gap that exists between those that do and do not have internet access is interesting since having the internet seems to be the basis of much of the other advances in technology. It is understandable for there to be a gap between the young and the old although I would love it if I could communicate with my grandparents via the net. I do not see it happening in the near future though they do seem amazed when they watch someone else do it. The ethnic divide I agree is directly related to socioeconomic status. There are Cleveland schools that lack running water so how can we expect the students to have access to computers let alone the internet. When we speak of nations from the Global South not having access to the internet it makes perfect sense because they lack the infrastructure and they need development that directly affects there survival so catching up to the Information Age is not a priority. It just does not seem to make sense though that just down the street the technological potential has not been reached at all. Internet access probably does not accelerate the divide between classes but it is does make is obvious.
In my International Relations class we were talking about how other countries perceive the US as wealthy because of what they see on TV. Even though there is a large disparity in between classes it is kind of hidden. The poor of urban cities are not seen by many since they just avoid going to those vicinities and the poor that live in rural areas are not seen because we drive on the highway right past them without ever stopping. As a result the poor in the US are not just invisible to those in foreign countries but also to its own citizens. A reason that my professor brought up about the poor in the US compared to those elsewhere is that for the most part they are not starving and that is physically visible but it is not because they have enough money to buy food and become overweight but that the cheapest food is the unhealthiest. Which makes a lot of sense because I was a cahier at a local grocery store by grocery cart alone you could tell people had just received their “food stamps” because of the type of food they had. Another example that was brought up is how by a parsons clothing other than the homeless, you can not really tell if a person is poor. People always talk about how certain people could not be poor because of what they wear and if they are, it’s supposedly their fault because they are spending their money on frivolous clothing instead of the necessities. Well that is not a fair comment to make since second hand shops like Goodwill and the Salvation Army don’t discriminate when it comes to the brands of clothing they sell since they receive all kinds and hand-me- downs can go along way. The point of what I am trying to show is that because of the preconceived assumptions people make about how the poor are supposed to look we do not realize how much poverty there actually is. Once people realize the poverty that exists in their own backyard maybe the means can be made so that internet access can actually be accessed by all that way the gap can minimize and they will have the chance to break the poverty cycle.
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