Dear Georgia.

Dear Georgia,This place is not what I dreamed
Dear Georgia,
I hope you see what I mean..
This place and all these people,
They just aren't what they seem.
I want to go back to the place,
The place where it was you and me...
Cause Dear Georgia,
I hope you know I'm sorry.

Dear Georgia,
This place is full of cruelty.
Dear Georgia,
I've seen it dealt to others and to me
But I can't say I'm just a victim,
Cause I'm part of the guilty party,
But the place where I came from
The arms I'd find forgive everyone
Cause Dear Georgia,
Back home is where I need to be.

Dear Georgia,
I packed and left everything so soon
Dear Georgia,
Has all that I've left gone to ruin?
Are my footprints still there to see?
The years I've been gone are history
I didn't know what I've leave behind
Chunks of my life, a waste of time...
But Dear Georgia,
I'm coming home to say I'm sorry.

Serenade for This Sinner

Too early this morning I woke up from a dream.
So heavy my head, cause I knew not what it means.
A shadowed world of dark trees, and Light without sun,
I walked the shaded ground to find absolutely no one.
There's rivers and lakes, and a breeze that fills my soul
And unfamiliar creatures walk around with no roles.
They all run away
When I go up to see
And in the reflection of the river,
I see what it's like to be me.
I see I'm not perfect.
I see I'm not free.
I've known all this before,
But cleansing is hard, but the key.

So I'm Cain and I'm Able.
I've got two left hands.
I've got one leg with no foot,
So it's impossible to stand.
I can pick myself up,
Just to get knocked back down.
But getting up is what matters
To learn for the next time around.

The land is dark now, but there's only hope to be had,
The Light from Above reminds there's no point to stay sad.
And there seems no escape from the forest I'm in,
But I continue to hobble, fall, and get back up again.
Continuing to hope and struggle down a lonely road
A path hard for us all, a terrible burdening load.
The wrongs of this walk are made by us all,
What we do with our shades after
Is what defines why we fall.
I see things I've done.
I see how I've changed.
I know I'm forgiven.
And that He pulls off my chains.

So now I'm guilty and I'm forgiven.
I'm a hero with no power.
Pressured with no force,
I create my own coward.
I just seek forgiveness,
Guilt will still seem to stay,
But realizing I'm forgiven-
Reminds me we all have a purpose
Each and every day.

Carolina.

Sweet Carolina,
Ooh, my sweet… sweet Carolina
Why don't you—
Come back,
Down to Virginia…
Sweet Carolina,
Ohh, my sweet… sweet Carolina
Your missed and—
I'm still waiting here
For you.
Oh my sweetest Carolina
Why don't you—
Please come back,
Down to Georgia,
Baby there's,
Someone waiting, just—
Waiting here to understand
Ooh, my sweet… darling Carolina
Why don't you—
Come back,
Down to, Mississippi
Baby there's,
Me, my mind, my heart, my arms
Baby, there open—oh
So wide open for you.
Ooh, my sweet… dear Carolina
Why don't you—
Please, please just,
Come back,
Down over to Texas.
Baby, I'm—
Gunna do what I can to,
Try to understand you, but—
Baby, you gotta see,
Ooh, Carolina, please see that
We both just aren't that easy to understand!
Oh, my sweet… my Carolina!
You make NO sense—no…
No sense to me at all.
And listen there's,
Many things, oh many, many things I—
That I just need to figure out
Oh, it about me, and you, and us
Ooh Carolina,
Please baby, just—let it all just,
Just let it all come to me
Oh,
Just let it all pour into me.
Ooh, my sweet… precious Carolina
Why don't you—
Come back down into my mind
You're the—
You are the peace and understanding
The willingness and contentment that I,
Oh, right now, that I need so badly.
Ooh sweetest Carolina,
I need the clarity you are
Before I—
Yes, before I can
Do anything,
Anything at all,
Cause Carolina I—
Ooh my sweet… Carolina, I,
Don't know myself at all…

Ohh…
Ooh, my sweet… holy Carolina
You are—
Something I cannot see, but—
I must have faith in you, oh
Carolina.
That you will,
Come down to me.
Why don't you come down from,
From your holy haven.
Give me the comfort,
Oh, that you know I need.
Ooh, my sweet… peaceful Carolina
My arms, mind, and heart are still—
Yes, still,
Open waiting for you.
Please, oh please, Carolina
Please, tell your Father,
Oh sweet, Carolina,
That I need you and I'll take care of you…

The Sky in Her Eyes

The sky is grey, but it doesn't affect your day.
Everyone is crying, but all your doing is sighing,
Cause where you are and where you wanna be
Are two completely different things...

But there are crosses and butterflies, when somebody dies.
Yet you have no fears, amongst the graves and tears,
Cause what's going on around you isn't where you are
And you’re smiling at me in the rain.

I know where you are.
Stay there.

You're in our own world,
And you're in my eyes.
It's like flying without wings
In the endless skies.

So I reach up to you as we're falling;
And I see you smiling as we soar through what seems like forever...
And the air here is thin.
We breathe eachother's exhale
Knowing that the warmth in our lungs
Is only there because we have each other.

And now we close our eyes,
So the next thing that we see,
As we fall through the skies,
Is each other in weightless eternity.

Cold Sheets.

Today won't last.
We may as well not even...
Let it start.

Lets let the heavens take their course.
We'll lay here in bed;
Enjoy the warmth we've created here-
Underneath it all,
Here we are.
And I'd rather do nothing for today,
Since night will throw it all away,
But you're by my side.

Skip my day.
Just to have us both here.
You losing me in your deep eyes,
Me keeping you safe from the cold air,
But you leave
Your day begins to call you out
And any excuse we make
Just won't save you from this-
Not from this room, this bliss,
Where you're by my side.

A kiss goodbye.
It's all I have to survive,
Until you come back home.
And as you run out into the day,
I hesitate to tune in to what's around me
Fearing the obvious emptiness that comes,
Oh no, cause it's that one thing...
That one thing Time can make,
That one thing I can't shake,
When you're not by my side.

So take me.
Time, have your way with us.
I'll be here waiting.
Come and get me cause I'm alone.
Cold now, in sheets that once held my world.
But the warmth touches my hand
And I've forgotten how the day had gone,
But I somehow trumped Time's game,
As you stand in the door frame...
Now you're by my side,
Again.
She says,

"Hello..."

Eternal Media

In the videos of "EPIC" and "The Machine is Us/ing Us," we see the advancing process of media in today's world and how it effects each and every one of us.

In "The Machine is Us/ing Us" we see how media advances and how it is constantly changing. The Internet, especially, undertakes constant changes so that it can envelop as many people to become its users as possible. The convenience of the Internet in everyday life is invaluable to its users. It becomes an expected commodity in making life easier in the aspect of paying bills, finding information, keeping in touch with others, and many other things that enable Internet users to prioritize the Internet into a vital part of their lives. The Internet was developed exactly for this purpose. The easier it becomes, the more welcoming it becomes to all people across the world. Searches find alternative or related searches, similar to the tactics of grocery store candy racks that are setup at the checkout lines. New types of bill paying encourage us to pay bills online, the alternative being for us to drive down to the payment offices, using time and gas, whereas we could have just stayed at home. In time, I believe that this will change business altogether. The convenience of the Internet, while it is convenient, could quite possibly cancel out actual social interaction totally. The future of media will give us no reason to leave our homes at all. We will be able to order food, pay bills, work, and go to school all from the convenience of our computer desks.

The “EPIC” video plays its part in the outlook of the future by showing the consolidation of all online media groups into one, monopolizing player that will take over the game completely. All people who choose to use the Internet will not be able to help but become a part of this big machine. The events that take place in the “EPIC” video do not shock me at all. I believe that events similar to those portrayed could easily become true in the near future.

Combining the results of these two videos concludes in the idea that sometime in the future, online media will not only be the most convenient and most widely utilized way to live, but it will also be controlled by one major corporation. This corporation will be suggesting different ways for us to live as well as knowing where we have been online and the things that we have purchased.
I guess I will conclude here before delving too far into how this would effect government and listing all the different ways this concept becomes frightening. This is the way I must say that I see the path of future media taking the ways that it will effect our futures as media consumers.

Another world in the world.

The Internet: for a hobby, for business, for pleasure, for convenience, for expression, for etc., for almost anything.
No matter what you use the Internet for, it gets used nonetheless, and by the millions. If you've run across anyone in your lifetime that has never used the Internet, call a museum or the History Channel or something. Its a big thing and it's only going to get bigger.

So something this huge, used widespread, and expansive must be a good thing, right?

The Internet has its strength and its weaknesses. The Internet lets its users access potentially anything in the world that their little hearts desire. Even a place to belong among others. With places like MySpace and Facebook, the Internet lets people meet others online, letting you chose and request friendships from other people depending on what they see that they like on your profile page. While this sounds like a great thing to be a part of, these online communities have become havens for perverts, stalkers, etc. and lets people develop a new online personality that can be completely opposite from their actual self. (The insecure 9th grade nerd in New Jersey is now a Hollister model from California to his online friends.) People also become addicted to such web communities; staying in their rooms in front of their computers all day, checking them constantly in eager anticipation for their next new comment or message. However, while this sounds nerdy and maybe scary, the plus side to these websites are their great means of communication. I have a Facebook (not addicted) and it is a great (and free) way for me to keep in touch with cousins and old acquaintances who live either out of state or I don't see as often.

While its good for communication, yet easy to get glued to, the problem that spawns now is deprivation of interaction. If we want to tell someone something, we use e-mail or message via online communities. Not a big deal, I guess. For some people, however, the negation of face to face interaction can seem unhealthy. Humans are social beings and to coop yourself up in front of a computer screen could probably become a problem. Social interaction is definitely a good thing, but the Internet makes it sooo easy to not have to talk to people in person.

I know I utilize that convenience all the time.
There are just some people I'd rather not actually talk to.

The Internet spoils us. We can live online (as mentioned above), shop online, pay bills online, get/watch media online... Pretty much anything. The more we surf the Internet, the more things we find out we can do on the Internet, so the more we try to squeeze in during a day. So the more we want to accomplish, the faster we want it to go... and it can get pretty fast. I've seen Internet download speeds clock in at about 5 megs a second (about the file size of an mp3 downloaded in about a second or so), and I know that it can get waaaay faster. So we get greedy. And the fast life transacts online, the faster we want things to happen in real life. We order something online, we get it rush delivered and "we still have to wait overnight! ARE YOU KIDDING?!" I personally don't care, but I would rather instantly e-mail someone a message instead of writing an old fashioned letter. I may have written 6 of those my entire life anyway...

So the good side is: We can get more done in a day.
The bad side would be: We become spoiled brats for speed.
Side effects would include: We become stressed from adding more things into a day.

For those of us who don't utilize the Internet for its effective, stress creating conveniences, it can be fun. And by fun, we can express ourselves. An endless, vast expanse that the masses can use to publish, write, draw, post photos, journalize, blog, post videos, watch videos, create slideshows, create flash animations, post music, listen to music, web design, post poetry, insult, stalk, offend, slander, criti-- ...well, you get the picture. The Internet, with its seemingly infinite space, lets you access and post media of almost any type. Its a haven for artists to express themselves and a theatre for those who want to be entertained. And with the Internet digitizing these media files, the wear and tear is eliminated, making a music track the same in 2016 as it was 20 years ago in 1996.

The quality of artistic life is preserved (and open for stealing!).

Overall, I think the Internet deserves a 9 outta 10.
It lets us do things and preserve things like never before.
It lets us communicate and participate in ways that are too convenient too pass up.
And even though it creates more creepy people and allows new ways of fraud,
I guess that's just the price we have to pay for a communication medium that rocks worldwide.

I guess that'll do it for me,
Time to illegally download some music and check MySpace (just kidding),
Jared.

One fell so that the idea would never fall.

KaZaa, a P2P file-sharing program, gives millions of users billions of files to freely share all over the world. The users love it, the entertainment industry hates it. Claiming it robs wealthy Hollywood superstars and rockstars millions and billions of dollars, while giving middle class, working people a chance to get something for free in this life. KaZaa gives its users the opportunity to find songs that aren't sold anymore, in another country, or that one hit from an album-- saving them from having to go spend $20 on the whole cd, not knowing if it is even any good.

The original Napster having been shut down for these same reasons, KaZaa had its head on the chopping block as well for quite a while. However, as the article spoke of, with KaZaa's different company components separated across the world in extremely convenient locations, the entertainment industry could not get what was needed to conduct a successful court case against them.

So the question is this: what is the solution to the file-sharing issue? How is it stopped?
Simple: it won't be. Even if KaZaa is stopped, there will be BearShare. When BearShare has been stopped, there is still LimeWire. After LimeWire, users still have Warez. Warez gets hit? Go to Ares. After Ares, try out bitTorrent. The list goes on and on. While Napster has been shut down and reopened as a "pay as you download" program, it has become the "what not to do" example for programming new file-sharing systems that people will remember when creating new P2P programs. One fell so that the idea would never fall. The problem will never be stopped. Users will always find a way to continue to get what they want and I honestly don't believe that entertainment lawyers will ever find what they need to stop it.

To get an idea as to how many different file-sharing programs you have to choose from (not to mention the different versions of each one), give these websites a look:
-www.oldversion.com
-www.cnet.com
Two great places for all your P2P needs.
All free.

Well,
I guess that's it for me,
See everyone in class,
Jared

A Blog of Importance to Me.

The blog that I have chosen to link from my blog is in fact my own older brother's Blogger account.

http://joshburns.blogspot.com/

The reason why I chose it and think that is revolutionary is because it gives me a link to my brother, Josh, even though I live in Moss Bluff and he lives in Baton Rouge. We don't even have to actually start a conversation for us to be able to see what is going on in the other persons life.
I also think that it is revolutionary because it gives other people that know me a chance to "know" my brother and vice versa.
I can see how my brother is doing in life by his writing style. He writes alot of poetry stuff and lyrical whatnots. I know he does it and am used to it so I can get an understanding of it in relation to him.
I know he can see that about me too. Even though most of the things I blog about are fairly pointless and ridiculous, he knows (or should by now) that thats just how I am. I guess he would know that by posting jibberish and things of great unimportance that I'm doing just fine. If I were to post some of the lyrics (I'd rather not call them 'poems') that I write, he would know that I am having feelings about something and try to get in touch.

And still in a revolutionary way, we would just talk over AIM if we 'sensed' something was awry...
Real caring of us.

Anyways,
There we go,
See everyone in class!
Jared

Cairncross Predictions

Okay, so lets expand on some of Ms. Cairncross' predictions:

Regarding #5: More Customized Content

I think that this prediction has already come true in the form of eBay and Amazon.com. Basically, I can order anything (literally almost anything), pay for it with a debit card or a versatile Visa card, and have it sent to anywhere I want. Even with the "B side" to the prediction, I can sell anything that I own over the Internet and if someone buys it, I just ship it to wherever they tell me to... after they pay, of course.

Regarding #11: Increased Mobility

Already we are seeing that wireless forms of communications are taking over the communication markets. I know people who have cancelled their home phone usage due to the fact that everyone in the house uses their cellphones rather than picking up the house phone. Computers are now able to connect wirelessly to the Internet making it possible to have all computers in a household run off one single, main router. The range of wireless signal for laptops has grown tremendously. Verizon Wireless (and possibly other companies as well) is now offering a wireless card that has the capability to deliver high-speed wireless Internet to any laptops with the card that are in range of their towers. Even cellphones have Internet capability now and the programs necessary to communicate with PC users via Instant Messengers. Static communications is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Regarding #28: Improved Writing and Reading Skills

Once again, I must say that this prediction is already taking form. The Internet is such a huge medium that aspiring writers and curious readers have an infinite amount of space to do whatever suits their likes. Writers can blog for the readers to consume. E-mails and Instant Messages are taking the places of phone conversations, giving the communicators more experience having to spell words out on-screen rather than just talking. I think that this time that people are using typing is incoherently improving spelling and, in cases, writing as well. I believe it is also true that those who are not improving their writing styles and their spelling are falling to the wayside because it makes people either struggle to make out their message or don't bother to read it due to how unprofessional it is.