Online Communities :: Internet Technology Computers Papers

Online Communities The Internet...the most exciting, mysterious and phenomenal form of communication to date. It allows people to enter a world where they can explore far off places they would not dare to venture into in the tangible world. It gives people the opportunity to communicate with other human beings from all over the world using nothing but a keyboard. It is an information highway, a place where research can be gathered on any topic capable of entering into the imagination. My exposure to the world of Cyberspace began six years ago when I entered college at California State University, Chico. I obtained a school-based e-mail account. In addition to writing to friends at other colleges, I was able to chat with other people on campus using a "talk" command. Throughout my two-year experience at Chico, I never ventured far out of the school-based e-mail system and never once went surfing on the "net." It wasn’t until I transferred to California State University, Northridge that I began my exploration of the Internet. Since I was commuting from home where I had a computer with no modem, it was at the school library where I did my e-mail. It was on these library computers that I became familiar with the Internet. I was now exposed to a whole new aspect of being online. I began using the Internet to research topics for both papers and recreation. In fact, when I moved back home and started going to CSUN, I became very involved in swing dancing. I wanted to know the "where, when and how" of the swing dancing scene in Los Angeles. The Internet became my source of information. I became part of an online community of swing dancers. I joined a forum where people gathered to post announcements and talk about nothing more than swing dancing. The Internet provided me the opportunity to get hooked into the dancing community via an online community. After the first couple of years at CSUN, upon my graduation in Deaf Studies, I obtained a personal computer with a modem and signed up for America Online. I was now able to have both e-mail and access to the Internet from the comfort of my own home. And now, for the last two years, I have been using this AOL account almost exclusively for e-mail. I never use the Internet unless absolutely necessary and find myself getting impatient and agitated when I can’t find what I am looking for or when I come to a screen saying "Page Not Found.

Informative Speech: Barbie Essay

With more than 150 careers on her resume she has worked as a Nurse, lifeguard, dance teacher and even astronaut. Her popularity has spread throughout the world for decades. She is beautiful, talented and every little girl has yearned to have her. Who is this woman you may ask? Her name is Barbie. I will be speaking about the History, popularity, and controversies of the Barbie doll. The Barbie doll was invented by a woman named Ruth Handler in 1959. Ruth had a daughter named Barbra and noticed that she would make paper dolls and enjoyed giving them adult roles. During that time there were not many dolls that were adult like. Most represented infants known as the baby doll. Ruth shared her idea with her husband who was the co founder of the Mattel Toy Company. Initially he was unenthusiastic about the idea. Saying that the idea was to expensive and wouldn’t be marketable. Ruth’s idea was inspired by the Lilli doll which was based on a popular comic strip. The Lilli doll was a blonde bombshell, working girl who Ruth felt represented women in a positive view. Despite Ruth’s initial support from her husband she worked on her design of the doll with her engineer friend Jack Ryan. The doll was given the name Barbie named after Ruth’s daughter Barbara. The doll debuted at the American International Toy fair March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie’s birthday. When the Barbie Doll was launched she was introduced as a teenage fashion model. She was available in blonde or brunette wearing a black and white bathing suit, pony tail, sandals and e6ar rings. Over the years the Barbie design has changed in many ways. For example, in 1971 the dolls eyes were adjusted to look forward instead of a sideways glance. In 1961 a red haired Barbie was added to the collection. 19 years later in 1980 the first African American and Hispanic Barbie doll was launched. Ever since 1959 the Barbie doll phenomenon has not slowed down and still sells millions of dolls per year today. The Barbie doll was a breath of fresh air for children and the toy industry which leads me to my next topic the Barbie dolls popularity. The Barbie doll is one of the most successful dolls in history, with sales of more than 1.7 billion in 1998. According to the Mattel Toy Company, 3 Barbies are sold every 2 seconds throughout the world. Today, Barbie has become a brand and is not limited to just dolls. There are video  games, computer programs that allow young g irls to design outfits for Barbie and of course movies. Barbie appeared in toy story 2 and 3 as a supporting character to woody and Buzz light year. Time Square even named one of the streets Barbie Avenue for a week. The Barbie doll has been a growing favorite for little girls all over the world. A billion Barbie’s have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries. There are more options as to what type of Barbie that can be bought which I believe ads to its popularity. Because the Barbie brand offers so much variety as far as race and ethnicity, occupation, and fashion trends the brand has made history with this invention. Eight months after Barbie’s debut at Toy Fair. Ruth Handler was according to the Los Angeles Times running a half- million dollar business. Ruth states in her book â€Å"Dream Doll†; I designed the doll with a blank face so that the child could project her own dreams and future onto Barbie†. Ruth’s vision for her doll was to be positive and to help young girls self esteem. She felt it was important for children to have a realistic view of women through the doll. With that being said many people did not agree with her and the Barbie doll caused a lot of controversy. One criticism that the Barbie doll received was from moms stating that they felt it was inappropriate to have a doll with breast. Ruth Stated in an interview â€Å"I believe it is important to a little girls self-esteem to play with a doll that has breast, besides one day she too will have breast and she is beautiful†. Another huge controverserial topic was the body image. If Barbie was to be a real women her measurements would be a 36† breast 18† waist and 33† hip if Barbie was a human she would not be able to stand up straight because her body was not proportioned of a normal women, An academic expert n=by the name of John Hay stated that the likelihood of a women being shaped like Barbie was less than 1 in 100,000. Many people felt that this was not giving a realistic to young girls view on how a women’s body is shaped. Critics felt that young girls would believe that if they are not shaped like Barbie they would have poor body image and could lead to eating disorders. Although the Barbie brand came out with their first African American and Hispanic doll in 1980, some of the African American community was not happy about the representation of the doll. They felt that the only thing that the doll had was darker skin but lacked African American features. For Awhile the black Barbie had dropped in sells drastically until finall y the Mattel  toy company recalled all the black Barbie’s and created them to have more of African American features. Although the Barbie has received much controversy, Ruth and her invention has been a game changer. She started off with one idea and it changed the world. Today Barbie is a brand and has been going strong for over 50 years. She took a risk even though she didn’t have much support from others she felt in her heart that she wanted to invent something that was contrary to what was being sold in the toy industry. The lesson in this is to follow your dreams no matter how much support you may or may not have. If you have a vision go for it and despite whatever criticism you may receive persevere and you too can change the world.

Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye - 1584 Words

ll saa iva_aa yaa ivamauyao ll That is knowledge which Liberates! Dear friends, do you know the meaning of this famous â€Å"Sanskrit† quotation? I’ll explain it to you. Generally we call vidya to everything which gives some knowledge. There are many types of vidya which we can learn in this world. Among these, one is à ¤â€¦Ã  ¤ §Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¤Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ® à ¤ µÃ  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾. And according to the scriptures â€Å"à ¤â€¦Ã  ¤ §Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¤Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ® à ¤ µÃ  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾Ã¢â‚¬  alone liberates the human being. One can get Mukti from this world, Because of knowing experiencing the à ¤â€¦Ã  ¤ §Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¤Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ® à ¤ µÃ  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¯Ã  ¤ ¾. The meaning of getting â€Å"Mukti† is not dying, but getting true knowledge of Atman Paramatman. It is like waking up from a dream. Because after getting Mukti a human being knows that everything we experience in this world is like a dream †¦show more content†¦See the persons who love God, they look younger than others. His mind also is truly pure. That means he /she skips the time in his/her life by contacting God the Parmaatman with love. This is a magic mantra to be young. But my dear friends for that we must have a pure heart. then only it CAN happen. You can also see the Yogins Bhaktas, how young they look. We can never make-out the age of Yogins true Bhaktas i.e. Saints. || SA VIDYA YA VIMUKTAYE || That is knowledge which Liberates! Dear friends do you know tha meaning of this famous â€Å"Sanskrit† question? I’ll explain it to you. Generally we call vidya to everything which gives some knowledge about anything. There are 64 types of Arts which we can learn in this world, according to the scriptures. Among these 64 kata, one is Adhyatma Vidya. And it is written in the Hindu sciptures that â€Å"Adhyatma Vidya† only is a Vidya because it liberates the human being. Because of it’s knowledge one can get Mukti from this world. The meaning of getting â€Å"Mukti† is not dying, but getting true knowledge of Atman Paramatman. It is like waking up from a dream. Because after getting Mukti a human being knows that everything we experience in this world is like a dream it is not my true self. I am different from what I’am now in this world. The person who is mukt, is called the â€Å"Enlightened One† (Atamashakshatkari). That means He knows this world as a play or a dream. He fully knows that this sharir