05/10/11

World Wide Welcome to the Information Age

In the globalization era, computers and the Internet became increasingly important. This shifted the focus from the production and sale of manufactured goods to information. The computers invented during World War I were bulky, pricey, and slow. The space program implemented during the 1960s, in attempt to beat the Soviet Union to be the first nation to send a man to the moon, sparked the further development of computers. As a result, the microchip was created, which led to the birth of many popular goods including video casette records, handheld video games, and cell phones.

Computers were a big hit in America. Renowned companies like Apple and IBM produced computers for business and personal use. These computers were designed to be relatively smaller, cheaper, and faster than its predecessors. Soon, computers became assimilating into offices and homes. The Internet was also made available for commercial and personal use. The Internet transformed the means of communication with the availability of electronic email. The Internet also broadcasted the beliefs and values of American culture to other parts of the world.

02/8/11

Interest…

Every so often, a piece of information comes along that, for whatever reason, triggers my interest in a manner just slightly different than the rest of the nonsense that floats by my mind day in and day out. From the looks of it, Eric Foner’s review of David Blight’s “Race and Reunion” very well just may be one of those sparks (whether or not Foner is just that good of a writer… well, that we’ll just have to wait and find out).

I’d never given much thought to the idea that history is so dependent on the memory of whoever writes it, or the extent to which it can be ‘manipulated’ by any particular bais – that, even what we’ve always regarded as fact can also have 2 (or more) sides to the story. What I found to be the clearest example of this was when Foner writes of the “Ironies”, that, “Abounded in the triumph of the reconciliationist outlook.” Particularly that, “Even Memorial Day, which had begun in 1865 when thousands of black South Carolinians laid flowers on the graves of Union soldiers, soon became an occasion for expressions of white nationalism and reconciliation.”

As far as I can see from this review, Blight seems to portray quite strongly the idea that History really is only as true as the memory of those who win the battle of having their side of the story brought to, believed, and accepted by the masses; and that may just be what it was about this review that seemed to spark my interest.

-C. Salama

02/1/11

Benefit of Technology

          Technology can have many benefits to the historians, because it makes things simple and easy. Historians can easily find the information online; don’t need to read whole bunch of book to get the information. The link about the twitter is one of the examples that show the technology can make historian life easier, they can go to the account to research the people and have the information that their need, also in the article “ Wiki Leak and the historical community” Wiki Leak is other example show the technology is good for the historians. However, privacy is a big issue, if the historian can find out your information; someone can find out also, there have not privacy anymore. So it’s not necessary to write down all the information you have.