This term

I enjoyed this class a lot and what it was able to give to me. I don’t think that it gave me a lot in terms of knowledge about technology however. I felt that going into this class I had a very good grasp of how to use a myriad of technologies. Coming from generation Y, I am really not that surprised. Also because I am a man and society really has allowed me to learn as much as I would like about computers and modern day tech.

As far as women’s issues and the way we engender technology as masculine or feminine, I knew most of what was discussed in class.

I have to be honest, from the second week I began to lose interest in this course. I very much so enjoyed the Instructor and material that  we covered. I just found the format inefficient and perhaps this is why the course has been online up until this point. As we were the first group to have the class on campus this is to be expected. I would like to have seen the course 20% how to use technology and 80% about the gender issues that go along with how technology is used. I am an A student and honestly I just could not find the motivation to do my best in this co

I think the instructor for this course has a copious amount of knowledge that she could incorporate within the curriculum for this course. Maybe what I was looking for was to be challenged at my core with gender and women’s issues. I would love to hear about the instructors experience being a woman in today’s male dominated computer science and engineering field.

Overall, the skills I gained were: A better grasp of using budgeting tools, an increased patience pool with inexperienced computer users, better tutorial writing skills.

I am glad that I took the course and now have a better idea of what women have contributed to the field of technology. Perhaps if individual culture site projects were presented  throughout the term it would capture more of peoples’ learning desire.

It also might have helped to not be taking 18 credits this term! Oh the lessons we learn as an undergraduate.

Teaching Site

So I have been thinking about what part of technology I’d like to teach people how to use, and really what would benefit people the most. I think I have decided on teaching people how to create and publish their own video blog on you tube! They can be quite fun and many, MANY, people have a Youtube video blog.

Some of the technical issues I will need to research are: webcam interface, capturing the image and uploading the video.

I will be using Microsoft Firefox, Microsoft Word and Youtube’s quick blog feature.

Finance project

So my financial project is coming along. I was unable to finish it this weekend, but have made it my top priority for this morning and afternoon. I have never had a more busy term than this one. I don’t know how it happened.

I don’t think I will be taking as many credits next term.

This project has been really fun for me though, I don’t think I’ve ever really mapped out a dream before. The more research I do the more I want to go on this trip!!!

Dreams

I have had several dreams in my life. I’ve always wanted to go to antarctica and do research on isolationism (and see the penguins), I have always wanted to own my own bar/cafe/bookstore (all in the same building), and I have always wanted to sail around the world. I think that it would be both romantic and the experience of a lifetime. 

For this project I think that I will focus on sailing around the world, it sounds the most fun.

I will be using a predicted income for after I graduate from OSU.

 

 Forbes.com there is an excellent guide to buying sail boats. I am getting excited just reading about the process of purchasing one. A small dinghy boat, apprx 15′, would cost me nearly $50,000.

With my current savings and mutual fund, I am no where near getting my dream realized.

Culture Site Progress

My culture site is coming along, I am only slightly behind where I’d like to be. I have been have had some trouble creating a paper that encompasses the assignment as a whole. I’m going to refocus and perhaps restructure how I present my paper. 

I am also still in the process of tagging my sources and embedding links. 

One thing that has been difficult while researching and writing this paper has been the technical jargon that has been thrown at me. This is where the culture varies greatly between Dr. Fiez and myself. She lives and operates in a world completely different from mine. I just hope in writing this paper, I don’t completely botch solar energy. 

There was one more fun thing that happened, when I googled “Dr. Terri Fiez” My culture site came up as the second website. I have never had anything I’ve done on the internet appear in a google search (at least not on the first page). So hopefully I can add to the community by providing information about Dr. Fiez’s work.

Further Research

After having talked with a reference librarian at the library I feel that I have many avenues to explore in my research of Dr. Terri Fiez’s work with solar energy technologies. There are a few issues with researching a woman who’s work is so recent. 

I was able to find many sources of information on Dr. Fiez from right here on our campus. There have been many articles written about her and the amazing work she has been doing in the field of Electrical Engineering. 

I will be going into the library again this week to discuss with another reference librarian additional relevant materials to my subject. How I can incorporate them and make the information tie into Dr. Fiez’s work.

I am also writing up my interview questions and will begin drafting the email to Dr. Fiez asking more about her important work. I will have the questions and the email sent off by Tuesday, in order to give her enough time to respond. 

Finally, In my project I want to discuss how dominated the field of engineering is by men. I started off my OSU undergraduate career as a Pre-Civil Engineering major and know how many men are in classes compared to women.

Culture Site Project- Dr. Terri Fiez

For my culture site project I will be discussing Terri Fiez, an entrepreneur in the solar electricity field and head of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at Oregon State University. Currently she is on leave from the University and is starting a new enterprise, Azuray Technologies, located in Tualitan, Oregon.

She received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and has taught here at OSU for nearly ten years. She is currently on leave from the university to work on her new business enterprise, Azuray, which is developing more efficient and powerful solar energy capturing technologies.

I am good friends with one of her students and so I believe should be able to get an interview with her (at the very least an email exchange) and possibly good information from her student. Her student is one of the founding members of OSU’s Solar Car Team.

I am excited to research this woman more. I feel that her technologies will affect great change in how women from around the world are able to access technology. If solar technology becomes cheaper and more efficient we could see solar computing stations in the Sahara or more remote areas in China. The expansion of technological access, and the power to run it, should be more easily pursued with Azuray’s contribution to the renewable energy field.

Mantyhose

I keep up with a few feminist blogs on the interwebs and came across an interesting article on Feministing. It was an article in reference to a special by MSNBC’s Today show, ‘Mantyhose’: Not your mom’s pantyhose. The special focused on a man in his 30’s who wore pantyhose while he worked outside. On the special he discloses that he feels less weird when the product is geared towards men. 

The more I look around the world we live in, the more I see how so much of what we have created is assigned a gender association. Men wear neck ties, women wear skirts, etc.. Now more and more men are wearing pantyhose for men that is designed for men. On this special, most men herald the benefits of wearing pantyhose, but because of implications of them being feminine they still feel shame over buying and wearing pantyhose.

Oh the world we live in.

Finalized Setup

I have finished setting up my blog for my WS320 course. I installed the widgets and created the pages required. 

I am debating on changing the theme, there isn’t much depth with the current theme.

Starting My Blog- Week 1

This blog will be used for a class I am enrolled in, Gender and Technology. I had little trouble setting up my blog and am excited for this class.