Saturday, January 24, 2009

10 years from now...

I usually work from one short-term goal to the other since you never know what is going to change in the long-term. Anyway, I am planning on graduating from Clemson University in December 2010. I would like to go to medical school afterward, which would be in fall 2011. In the meantime I would like to gain some practical experience in the medical field either at home or in a Spanish speaking country. After completing medical school, I would like to go back to Germany to find work, to settle down and hopefully to have my own family. If everything works out like I just explained, in ten years, I will live somewhere in Germany (or Europe). I will be fluent in at least two languages. I will have found a place where I want to stay for the rest of my life. I will have a partner with whom I want to stay for the rest of my life and I will planning on having my own family.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Machine is Us/ing Us...how Web 2.0 affects our lives

I think the title "The Machine is Us/ing Us" means that it is humans who feed the machine with tons of information every day no matter if it's consciously (having a Web page or blog) or unconsciously (buying something online...credit card information). Therefore, the Web consist of precious, personal information that is readily (ab)used by the modern economy, society...world.

For someone who is about to enter the workforce it is crucial to have good computer working abilities. Different jobs require different ways of communication, and very often the advantage of computer based communication is favored because it's fast and flexible. Even if communication does not require the Web, most of the data is recorded and saved electronically, which in turn requires specialized skills.

Someone who is already in the workforce will need to develop the skills that are necessary to stay compatible with someone who went through a more updated and more computer based training program, and who could possibly manage to work the same job more effectively.

In the end we have to be aware that the Web was established by human hands. It consists of human ideas, information posted by humans, revised by humans, manipulated by humans, used by humans to create new ideas that lead to new information that ends up on the Web as well. "100 billion times per day humans click on a web page" where they receive, share, link, or trade information. Information always has a source, but can it be original after 100 billion clicks, and a couple of thousands of "copy" and "paste"?

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Hey everyone!!!

I'm Liane, I'm a health science major and this is my 5th semester here at Clemson University. I'm originally from Germany but I'm here for about two years now and i enjoy it a lot. The most frequent question that people ask me is: "Why did you come to Clemson or how did you find out about Clemson?" and one of my answers is: "Clemson actually found me." I got recruited via mail by the Women's Track & Field coach and they offered me a full scholarship. The timing was perfect because I was about to apply for University in Germany and I thought it would be a great opportunity and the last chance to study abroad. I took the chance and now I'm here:)
The Track & Field season is just about to start, so if you are interested you should definitely come out to the track and support us. Our schedule is posted online. I hope I will see you there!!!