Week 3

As an international student I have found that communication technologies have been essential in communicating with my friends and family back home. With the 14hr time difference between here and NY it’s very hard to find a time to call home that is at a reasonable hour for my parents, and at a time where I have access to a payphone. Email has become a consistent source of communication between my parents and me. It’s extremely convenient because I can let them know what is happening in my life and relay any information that they might need from me, without actually having to be awake and online at the same time they are. Email is also easy enough for my technologically inept parents to understand. Instant messaging is another way I keep in touch with my friends and family back home. I also use Myspace and Facebook to let talk with my friends back home and post pictures of the awesome Australian beaches :)

However, I think one of the best communication technologies that I have found is Skype. It’s an internet phone system that lets you make free phone calls over the internet. There is also a feature that allows you to make phone calls from your computer to any land line phone for a small fee. I only found out about this new feature recently but have found it to be enormously convenient.

Knowing very little about the advent of computers I found this week lecture interesting. I really enjoyed the fact that Lord Byron's daughter was a metaphysician. However, considering that Ada's mother left Lord Byron when she was very young, he probably did not have a lot of influence on her. We rarely hear much about educated women in history and I enjoyed knowing that history did not write her out simply because she was a woman.

I knew that Bill Gates had developed Microsoft, and that he screwed some people over in building his empire, but I didn't realize he was such a jerk. I have a lot more respect now for Apple, who I had always thought developed in reaction to Microsoft in order to create competition.