The Internet: Good or Bad

            In our society today we have many needs that must be pleased and many things we want to know that we don’t know yet. Today we have a too and a very useful tool as well, but is it safe? The internet is used word wide; www stands for World Wide Web after all.   Whether you’re an average teenager wanting to keep in touch with friends after school, or a business person needing a low cost but effective way to keep work related material local and secret, chances are you use E-Mail or Instant Messaging services. For communication purposes in this high tech lifestyle that exists today, these systems are used only with the basic understanding needed to run these devices.

            The Internet was invented in the late 1960s. Back then, the Department of Defense called it ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency network) and it was intended to link research facilities, defense contractors, and government agencies. The first public demonstration of ARPAnet was in 1972 and technicians proudly displayed a network that connected 50 universities and research facilities. Today there are millions of computers on the Internet. Electronic mail (e-mail) and Usenet (short for "user network") news groups were the first applications. Internet privacy laws have been passed to protect different groups in different ways. One such privacy law was passed in 1996 called the Communications Decency Act (Tulsa, 2002).

            According to an article called Free speech, and safe children, there is one Act that is solid in the fight to protect the minors of today’s Internet world. This act is called the Children’s Internet Protection Act, or CIPA enacted in 2000. (Tulsa, 2002). The material that may not be suitable for child can be available on personal computers at home, which change the fact that many children are going to view the media if they choose to do so. However, there are many ways schools and libraries can stop the media from reaching the young students of today by using newly advanced software technologies. There are so many ways that people want to protect other kids and teens because internet is not safe.

            Almost every one that has been on the Internet or that uses e-mail has heard of hacking. Hacking is very serious in some cases. How would you like a hacker to intercept your credit card number and start using it to buy his or her own stuff? A lot of us would not like that, because the hacker is stealing from us. When the Internet first started to develop, hackers could get into anything and do anything. With the protection programs that we write, the hackers write their own programs to disregard our individual privacy on the Internet and hack into systems holding our private information and stealing it to reveal some of our biggest secrets. Many web sites deposit data about an individuals visit onto his own hard drive while he is surfing the web in the form of cookies. When the user returns to that site the cookies reveal that he has been there before and may offer products or ads based on the data in the retrieved cookie (Computer Privacy Presentation). Even though it may seem immediate, an e-mail message travels from ones computer to several computer hosts across the world before finally reaching its destination. At every stopping point, it could be intercepted and examined by anyone who has right of entry to those intermediate computer hosts.

           It is necessary for the battle for privacy to be fought on many fronts such as legal, political, and technological. The Internet presents many benefits in the lives of patrons. However, as it is seen, it may bring new threats to personal privacy. Any cyberspace users should be aware of the potential of the invasion of privacy and should thoroughly inspect new services before moving further. This electronic environment does not obey the same rules as the physical environment within which we live. People now have the opportunity to access an infinite array of information or to communicate with people on earth or in outer space. The technology for this world is progressing at a profound pace and it seems as if something revolutionary is being implemented all the time. But along with this innovative technology, in a world of few regulations, come many opportunities for infringement upon user’s rights that were implemented in the real world. Computers and the internet are merely tools to access this median between users and the massive amounts of information available.      

They still have a long way to go before the Internet is secured from both sexual advertising to minors and individuals with capabilities to monitor your actions on the computer. So the next time you are using the computer and think your along, you may want to think about who is monitoring the computer and internet. The topic of internet privacy is an interesting topic to cover in that today so many people utilize the internet which causes a need for the regulation of peoples’ individual freedoms in cyber space. The internet is so popular that anything having to do with it directly or indirectly affects us all. The question arises as to how much or little regulation should applied as to make the internet safe from those who miss use it, yet at the same time not compromising peoples’ right to confidentiality.

My Winter Break

This winter break was a pretty interesting break and some Christmas miracles actually did happen. I ate a lot of really good food and I spent it with my family. I enjoyed my break very much so I guess that is what counts. I had my bad days, obviously, but it was all really fun eventually.

I went ice skating, we cooked a lot of food and I really enjoyed that part because I love to cook food. Some family members I hadn’t seen in a very long time came over and we all ate together. My cousin slept over for a couple days so that was fun as well.

     I guess I will start on how they celebrated my birthday. Honestly it was very boring and I would have liked it if my family would have paid me more attention that day. It’s not every day that one turns the age of their birthday that only happens once. My friends gave me some presents and took me out to eat so that made me feel better.

     At home I spent most of my time cooking and cleaning. My mom says that a girl becomes a woman when she learns to cook and clean. Now my mom has arthritis so she can’t do much around the house to help so it’s up to me and my sister to do it. I love cooking so I don’t mind doing that. I usually cook recipes I get off magazines so it is something different we taste. Obviously that gives me great ideas when it comes to cooking for holiday dinners especially for Christmas.

     On Christmas I made some apple dumplings stuffed with cinnamon, jam, and walnuts. My aunt and uncle finally came over to our house after about three years of not seeing them. That day we went ice skating at Pershing square and it was a lot of fun especially because my cousin couldn’t ice skate.

New Years was really boring and we stayed home all day long I didn’t even feel like cooking. We were suppose to go to my best friend’s house but my dad got home late from work and he had had a problem at his work so he was stressed out. My parents went to sleep really early and it was just me and my sister awake waiting to receive the New Year.

I would have loved to have had more fun and I really wanted to go to the snow but we don’t always get what we want. At the end I am just appreciating the fact that I have my family and I spent my break with them. Family comes first and I have them and even if I didn’t see my friend or even my boyfriend  I am thankful I had the people that will always be there for me, my family.

  

     

The Crucible and Modern Day America

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a tragic play and reminiscence that is a part of America’s history. The play is based during the Salem witch trials that occurred in Massachusetts in which eighteen innocent Puritan’s, members of a group from the 16^th and 17^th century who wanted to make the Church of England simpler and stricter on its morals, were accused of witchery and were hanged. Nine other Puritan’s died in the jail cell waiting for their trial, one man was pressed to death and a dog was hanged because it was thought the dog was a human in disguise. So it was obvious these were moments of hysteria and madness. Now the state had much to do with this which is why it’s good we don’t have that anymore. Salem’s theocracy of 1692 was a blasphemy and the most awful thing to happen to America because of the problems it caused, because of how people where brainwashed, and because of the diverse religions that we have in the U.S now.

The biggest issue was the false accusation’s made against innocent people. “Danforth: Mr. Putnam, I have here an accusation by Mr.Corey against you. He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail… Giles: If Jacob hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property- that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy   so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land.”(Miller 214) In this dialogue Giles Corey, which is the man who was pressed to death, is accusing Mr.Putnam of trying to take away other peoples lands by getting his daughter, one of the “afflicted,” to accuse whoever he wants gone so he can take advantage and buy their land? This means that someone might accuse you just because they don’t like you or you are annoying or even out of jealousy. Today there is a lot of hate, jealousy, arguments, and fights in which many can easily be accused if the church was still part of the state. People were easily brainwashed thinking there was a devil and they felt god was the answer.

The church made people believe in witches and if there are witches there is a Satan meaning there is a god because the world has to be balanced. Anyone can easily pretend to be possessed and the church will say “it’s an invisible crime” and everyone else will go along with it. During the trials I am pretty sure if everyone would have gotten together they could have easily taken over the situation but since they all have the same belief they all thought it was true. Today however, we the church is separated  from the state which is good because god and witches are all myth where the state has made laws that are broken on a daily bases.

Today in the U.S there are many religions that exist for example there is the         christain church, catholic church, etc. I personally am an atheist so I believe in nothing over all. So there is a diversity of different religions so how can a state be ran with so many ethnic groups and religions. It is too much and it wouldn’t work. In The Crucible everyone believes in Puritanism so it was easier although it didn’t work. You can’t run a state based on superstition. If we would still have our church and state together I think all African Americans would be dead when we had our racist  and segregated years.

In conclusion it is great that we don’t have a union between the church and state because that would be a mistake all over again. The church is mostly filled of beliefs that may or may not be true so you can’t accuse anybody on beliefs which is what happen at Salem. The state is the law, rules we should be following everyday like no stealing from others. These are laws that make more sense and we actually know about and some of us are even witnesses to them. In other words the Salem witch trials happened for no reason because no one was actually a witch. The people who were accused were victims of hate, revenge, and even jealousy so hopefully they still rest in peace even though they died for no real reason.

                                                                                                                                

                                   

Works Cited Page                                                  

Applebee, Arthur N; Bermúdez, Andrea; Blau, Sheridan; Caplan, Rebeka; Elbow, Peter; Hynds, Susan; Langer, Judith A; Marshall, James. “The             Crucible.” The Language of Literature. 1941. Harcourt Brace & Company. Boyer, Paul. “Documentary Archive and Transcript Project.” University of Virginia Library. Electronic text center.1997.Nov.30,2010.<http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/transcripts.html>  McClenaghan, William A. “Our Political Beginning.” American       Government.   1917. Pearson Prentice Hall