Banned Books!!

Good Evening, my avid readers. Ha, yea right. Anyways, I'm here tonight to talk about how important banning books is. Not very. For this unit in my integrated class, we are reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and talking about the freedoms we have in school and in life. It turns out, that the aforementioned book is one of the most challenged books for schools. Why? Well, if you have read it, you probably noticed the 200+ times the word "nigger" shows up. This, being so blatantly put out, is harmful to a certain demographic. I realize that since I am not black, I don't completely understand the affect this could have on people. However, there are things that offend everyone. This book is meant to be satirical! It shows that a moronic, street urchin, learns that blacks are people too. Therefore, implying that everyone else who doesn't realize this, must be even stupider than Huck Finn. Sure, you can watch Mind of Mencia, he throws out racial slurs every 30 seconds, and it's funny. Yes, there is a painful past, and still a lot of racism in the world, but allowing this accurate piece of literature to still harm people, even though it is meant to ridicule the oppressors, is not progress. In an article we read in the class, a man said that the African American race needs to respect itself before others will respect them. Complaining about a book written almost 130 years is not going to gain respect for yourself. Eventually, the word will leave the vocabulary, if they put on some tougher skin, and not let it get to them. Most literature has some kind of bias, and can hurt anyone. Should we ban the history books, because a jewish student seeing a swastika could be offended and hurt because of the holocaust? Anything can be offensive, Huck Finn just makes it more blatant. In all reality, it was reality. The book accurately portrays the way people thought of blacks. If all students could read was books that were completely unbiased and unoffensive, they would see the world as a peaceful place. It's not, there is prejudice for anything. The clothing you wear, the way you walk, the music you listen to, hair color, anything. The fact that blacks use the word with each other, only keeps it alive. The fact that Huck Finn is so challenged for it's use of the word, keeps it alive. Pico v. Island Trees states that a book may be banned for being vulgar. It cannot, however, be banned for being unpopular. It's all up to perspective. I see it as neither vulgar or unpopular. I believe it is just another word, but it's the meaning an idividual puts behind it that makes it offensive. Slavery, and oppressing blacks was wrong, but it's time that we leave that ugly past behind, and start off with a new page.

iTunes 8 and Twitter

Today while I was at home being a sickie, I downloaded iTunes v.8. I was very pleased with the new add on. The newest version of what I assume to be one of the most used applications in the united states, if not the world, has added a genius sidebar. No, it is not automatic customer service, it merely shares the same name as Apple employees. When I finished downloading, I was given a prompt to "scan" my library, and a brief explanation as to what it would do. As I read through it, I realized it was something I needed for a long time. It is similar to Pandora with how you choose a song, and it finds other songs in your library with similar qualities. It doesn't stop there however. In the sidebar, it also suggests music that you has similar qualities, or is by the same artist. From the sidebar you can choose to sample and even buy the songs if you like. One good part is that you can go back to a song after you've listened to it, unlike Pandora. Although, because it has to be music you own, it is less of an actual Pandora's Box affect, unless, of course you own every piece of music ever recorded and sold. Another one of it's downfalls is that, with my 2500+ library of songs, it took almost a half hour for it to scan all my songs, and group them together. Also, as long as I am comparing it with Pandora, there is no way to have a song not played in a certain Genius Playlist. At least, I have not found one. Other than the few tweaks I would add, however, I think that this will definitely be a great addition for iTunes. While I'm on the subject of new technology and such that I am trying, I may as well talk about Twitter. This is, if you do not know, a medium for people to exchange what they are doing. All you have to do is sign up for an account, and started following, or be followed by people. People will either Text, IM, or use Twitter on the web to change their status. This change will then be sent to everyone who is "following" them via text, IM, or on the web. Me, being the nerd that I am, thought of some great ways that this could be used. Teachers could use it all the time. They would just have to have their status on Twitter be the homework, or students could "tweet" answers to the teacher if they are shy in class. Teens could keep in touch with their friends or parents by just sending out one text message instead of waiting the extra few minutes for 10 or more to send out. I know, I sound like everything needs to be instant, but in all reality, it does. Things like Twitter, and even iTunes8 are. Sure, it took 28 minutes for my music to be scanned, but a Genius Playlist was developed in less than 30 seconds. With how fast people have gotten at texting, Twitter could be used to alert police or other entities of attack, rape, break-ins. It may sound crazy, but it has a bigger potential than the "OMG! I broke my nail!!" that it sees everyday. It is convenient, fast, and free. That's how we like things these days. If it's difficult, we don't like it. Slow? We can go without. Costs too much? With our faltering economy, free is the only way to go. Look at that, I went from being excited about new things I tried, to criticizing Americans for their outlook on life. Oh well. Anyways, these are both great things to try out. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to follow me.