Blue light special on the INTERNET!!

When I finally turned eighteen I was excited, not only because I was considered an adult, but I was now eligible for my very own credit card. Luckily, for me, my mother taught me how to budget my money and to only use credit cards for emergency purposes only. The thought of putting my credit/debit card information online to purchase merchandise kind of prohibited me from buying anything via the Internet. Especially since identity theft was on the rise and becoming a popular way to go on a shopping sprees with someone else's account. Well, the paranoia of Internet shopping ended once I realized that it was so much easier to purchase items online versus going to the store to find out that my size wasn't in, the retailer ran out of the particular item, or maybe the store was located further than I had anticipated to drive.

I think I have a tendencey to put more trust in certain situations then I should. I figure no one is going to want to steal my identity considering I have nothing to my name. I have no problem going from one site to the next to the next and shopping till I drop. For the most part, I believe people put a lot of trust in these online sites which makes it very rare that someone won't buy something on the internet. When sites promise not to disclose your personal information or show you that they have blocked out your credit card detail, for me, I feel a little at ease even though it's probably not that difficult to get someone's information with enough determination.

At times, I still hesitate a little before purchasing something on a website, but then the really cute shirt or the designer jeans ease my mind as I push the submit button on my computer and realize that the money I spent on clothes could have gone in my gas tank or towards a really good computer book for class :0) I'm always going to shop on the internet until someone or something happens to me that causes me to use more caution.

Identity

I researched myself on the internet by using the search engines Google, YaHoo! search, and ask.com. I was happy to see that my information was no where to be found, until....DON, DON, DON (dramatic sound effects). As I begin to type intelius.com into the address bar, I began thinking to myself, "what exactly can I find out about me just by using my first and last name and maybe even my middle inital". Honestly, my nerves weren't, in the least bit, aroused because I didn't think there would be anything to find.

As I did my little search on intelius.com, and entered my first, last, and middle inital, to tell you the truth, I was a bit taken aback to realize that the information listed under my name listed the city in which I live. Not to mention, who my father was. I was actually happy that the information which was found was not current, and that the site only listed one family member instead of my whole family tree. Although, I'm a little upset that anyone in the free world can figure out where I reside and who my relatives are, I'm also put at ease (minimally) to know that they'll have to pay a fee to get every detail, and the information that they may receive is, more than likely, going to be wrong. But it's very frightening to know that with determination, I too can be found.

What does the future hold for Newspapers?

The way technology keeps advancing, I, unfortunately, don't see a lot of hope for newspapers in the future. With a push of a button anyone can view the latest news breaks or events from their phone, home computer, while sitting at work, at an airport or even during class while pretending to listen to what the Professor may be lecturing about (just kidding). If you asked me "when do I think the extinction of newspapers will occur?", I wouldn't be able to answer that with an obvious answer, obviously. However, I can honestly say, or in my opinion, I believe that newspapers will still be around in five or ten years, but in 30 or 40 years I don't think it's looking too pretty.

In all of my 24 years I don't believe I have sat down and really read through a newspaper. I'm not going to lie and say I've never opened one because I have. Before the internet was popular in my household, I remember I would have to look through the classifieds for employment, or maybe a friend would call me every once in a blue moon and tell me about a mutual friend who ended up in the paper. I remember a few occasions where I would open the newspaper and read the comic section while eating a bowl of cereal in the morning, but now that I think about it, I believe I only did that because I assumed people would think I was more intelligent by taking the time to read through the newspaper. It also helped that my mother worked at, what used to be called, The Tacoma News Tribune for 23 years.

In all, I don't have high hopes for the newspaper anymore, as sad as that may sound. I think in today's world people are so used to multi-tasking and being on the go that sometimes they don't have time to look through a newspaper especially when you can get the same information via the internet quicker.

Email vs. Regular Mail

Email has exploded into the everyday lives of the people in today's world. With the advancement's that are occurring with today's technology, it makes me wonder if people will need to use regular postal mail in the future. In class we went over some of the reasons why the world still needs normal mail delivery; the delivery of packages, magazines/catalogs, certified mail, maybe a friend or family member is at a destination that will not allow wireless connection or computers, or maybe we have to consider that there are individuals (of the older generations) who still do not know how to access the world wide web. Whatever the case may be, there are still some advantages and disadvantages to using regular mail.

In my opinion, email has made life a lot easier for me. I don't have to wait, for what feels like an eternity, to receive mail. All I have to do is click the inbox button, and all of a sudden I've got mail. Email is also great because it makes shopping online so much easier. I remember when I was younger and liked shopping in catalogs, I would always have to ask my mom for a check so I could mail it to the clothing company that I liked and then have to wait about three weeks for my merchandise to arrive. Everyday I would check the mail to see if anything had been delivered. Now with the advancement of email, the clothing company will email me when my merchandise has been shipped and I can even track it online. I find that to be quite convenient.

It's rare that you will find me using regular mail. I don't even use it to pay my bills because it takes too long, and I might risk being late if I decide to mail my check versus using my debit card online. I feel like I'm constantly checking my email because this is, for the most part, the most popular way to get in contact with someone. A majority of things that I do involve email and the Internet. I have learned to appreciate the world wide web and email. I could probably go on and on about my excitement on today's technology and its future, but I will stop here and say that I'm grateful for email because now my friends and I can keep in contact about life while trying to stay busy at work.