Review of Felicity Smith's blog. The most recent article I could find was about online classes.
Smith makes the point thatonline classes cheapen the learning process. I don't think thats entirely true. If you have a bad teacher in a regular class, then you will not learn anything there. And when it comes to basic or pointless required classes, an online course can make it easier.

I believe the biggest issue is probably the internet. I remember the early days of the internet, and am amazed at how big it has become in such a short time. The internet has completely revolutionized communication worldwide. Small businesses can now sell worldwide. If there is a hard to find item, look it up online. We can read news from any country. The internet is a truely amazing marvel of technology that has affected every aspect of our lives. As with any technological advancement, there is going to be some bad things, but I think the bad things about the internet are small and easilly outweighed by the good. The one problem of any technology is, how dependent are we on it? My philosophy is: if something can go wrong, plan for it. Modern conviences are great, but how many of us know what to do when it does not work? If we have no power how many people will be trying all day to push a switch on a can opener to open a can of food while the rest of us simply use our swiss army knife and enjoy a meal. There is nothing wrong with technology that makes life easier, we just have to know what to do when it does not work.

Are we happy yet? The digital age has without question put the world at our fingertips. I am always amazed at the flow of information from around the world. Life is faster, check payment for example used to take at least a week to process, now it takes about a day, before computers banks and big businesses would hire accountants to file through all the paperwork and do the calculations overnight, now as we saw in that triumph of the nerds video, a spreadsheet program can cut hours or days of work into a few minutes. Currently, we are still in transition to digital tech, but things are improving, especially as the bugs are fixed. Life is becomming easier and more efficient thanks to technology.

Review of Frances Hoffman's blog. Hoffman's main concern with electronic voting is the risk of hackers. I like how he brought up the point of paper ballots and a biased recount. Again, with any new technology, there are going to be problems, if these can be worked out then there will be no cause for concern. Hoffman expresses his concerns about electronic voting, but still takes an optimistic look at the technology.

Electronic voting advantages and disadvantages. Can electronic voting be hacked? Yes, anything can be hacked or broken into, nothing is foolproof. The question is how likely is it to happen? I do not feel hackers are as big of a problem as system errors are. A simple solution is to have the results in each voting location printed on a single sheet, like a receipt, into a locked box, (to prevent tampering), in addition to the results on a harddrive. This will also help reduce use of paper, trees and flower children everywhere will thank us. My experiences with electronic voting have been nothing but positive. Electronic voting is new, so some initial errors are to be expected, but these will be worked out. Looking back on the 2000 election, with so many counts and recounts that you'd think The Count from Sesame Street (who loves to count) was in charge, And lets not forget all the jokes about "hanging chads", do you really think paper ballots are so great and error free? This is the 21'st century. I feel its about time we use computer technology in voting. After all, how can computers improve lives if we don't use them. Where I used to live, I voted on paper ballots where you use a magic marker to connect a line on the canidate you want to vote for. The one old voting style I find laughable in the punch cards. I don't know how many people remember punch card computers, but this technology was phased out in the 1970's, I remember learning a little about them in the '80s, but most of the machines had been replaced with newer, better equipment. Yet 25 years later, this long outdated technology still appears in some voting districts! I worked a lot with the Apple 2 many years ago, its a great machine, but I think it would be a little hard to post this blog, or do a lot of other required assignments today. I would love to see the look on a teachers face if he/she asked to turn in assignments and I hand them a 5 inch floppy disk. I think the electronic voting machines are very easy to use, and that most of the people who complain have computer phobia. (out of curiosity, anyone know what this is called?) I know a few people who are not really computer literate, who have no problem with the electronic voting machines. So why is there so much debate about newer, faster, and more accurate voting technology, and no solutions to the few problems with current electronic voting in the government? That my friends, is a little thing called beaureauracy and politics.

Review of Fake Name's blog. Fake Name brought up one topic that I agree is a hard part about online classes; getting assignments done on time. Even if someone is not a procrastinator, it is easy to forget about assignments. I agree with Fake Name about regular classes that make you use a stupid online service like angel (which I can't describe without lots of four-letter words). This class is different, I like this class and blogger.com. I found blogger so easy that I was expecting something to go wrong, and nothing did. I am very happy with this class and blogger.com, I wish others were the same. By having a personal website run by the professor and the use of blogger.com, both of which are trouble free, I think I learn more about technology, and have fun at the same time. Overall, Fake Name wrote a very good report. While Fake seems to take a slightly negative view of online classes, due to personal experience, Fake sounds like he/she still maintains an open mind on the issue. I appreciate the compliments, and I don't think fake was too narrow. It is good to keep an open mind, especially with rapidly changing technology, what sucks today may be great tomorrow after the bugs are worked out.