Election 2008

Tonight an event occurred that happens in America once every 4 years, the Presidential Election. This year's election represents a first in history for America as Barack Obama appears to have handily won the Electoral vote by close to a 2:1 margin, the first African-American to ever hold the position in this country. It can be shown to some degree that the election may well have come down to or at least be based a lot on the votes of younger or new voters. Many polls showing record turnout for the younger age group. These voters represent others like me who are members of the newest generation of voters to surface in elections, those of the Millennial generation. So far the book Millennial Makeover has been correct in saying that the transformation predicted for this year would be towards a larger role by government, which is what the Democratic party supports. If there other predictions hold true as all indication shows they should, Millennials will come to mean even more for elections in the future. This means that elections in the near future and indeed the next presidential election of 2012 may well begin to shape American politics for 40 years as the trend shows. With all this on the line, I can only hope that the Millennial's decisions can be proven in the future to be good ones and that United States will remain as great a country as ever. Ending with a quote from John McCain finishing his concession, "God Bless, and God Bless America."

Cult of the Amateur vs. Lawrence Lessig

In the book, Cult of the Amateur, one of the author's main targets for attempting to further his point is Lawrence Lessig professor of law at Stanford and one of the frequent proponents of ideas like Creative Commons licensing and other ways to think about copyrighting in the digital age. One of the main points in Cult of the Amateur is that the rise in amateur information flow that the Internet is allowing will cause actual harm to society. It is Keen's belief that the lack of accuracy in information that can be presented by anyone on the Internet there remains very little out there hat we can trust and less of a value on expertise. I believe that Lessig makes a stronger point however, in that he proves that there are also falsities in the book and not only in inofrmation on the internet. In this case I more fully belive Lessig's argument, not only in that he essentially disproves Keen's main point by showing flaws in his book but also for the fact that I use the internet on a daily basis to connect with others and as an information source. I would still like to believe in the fact that amateurs do have some value in this world as something I pursue in the future not in my area of expertise could still be worthwile.

Cult of the Amateur: What do you love?

The word amateur comes from a Latin word meaning "to love". Thus implying that an amateur is someone who does something simply for the fact that they love to do it and not necessarily because they are good at it at all. I believe there are further factors than this that determine what you can and can not be called an amateur at. I believe the distinction is between activities that could be a possible career choice and then others that aren't, for instance hanging out with your friends or something of the sort. So some activities that I would say I am an amateur at would be a couple different sports, some computer technologies, and different tyoes of gaming. I believe that any of these activities you do for yourself, for instance intramural sports that I like to take part in here at umbc, you have to find your own reward for the work you put in, whether you enjoy winning, the thrill of competition, or just participating in the activity. Any required work you do you may not enjoy but usually comes with other rewards such as a salary or school credit. So far in life I have only really found it easy to be really motivated for something when I think I am going to have a good time or when I am doing something I enjoy. Up to this point I believe that this is why I am more motivated in my hobbies than I am in school work or for a job. However I have found it easier to get interested in sciences and maths and as such do enjoy most of my classes in mechanical engineering. I am hoping this leads to a good job in the future that I actually enjoy having.