all things californian

"THE" Dream...

The greatest Californian dreams ranging from hopes for riches and fame to those who wish the impossible, these dreams are mostly put in the head of younger children and teenagers. For not being the individual that the society in California wants, for example, not being financially empowered or the unwilling of a young teenager to receive an education, the creation of a machine has been molded. These examples are just two of many more of how the California dream has been created to benefit a small handful of people. Who might those people be? It might be those men and ladies living in big fancy houses that look down on the blue collar working class. The idea that California should be represented as the greatest place has created a world where all the wrongs and bad things such as drugs sexual exploitation crime or basically anyone who is not the owner of the big fancy house. In California the idea that every individual is molded into being a college student is unrealistic, ok the world does need educational leaders but the same world does need just as bad the working class. From plumber’s landscapers and anyone who may fit in between, these where the creators of the great land of California and in a sense California has lost the backbone in which it was created on. The selfish California dream is the real reason to why many pursuit all the great things on this golden state. If you take a look around almost everyone at this time is out to get theirs in a sense, what I mean is that we all do what we do in a selfish manner and that what I do will better me in a way. A teacher might say that he is in it for students but in reality he or she might just be happy knowing that "I" did something and now "I" feel better. My California dream of survival in an injustice world :)

This is all I was able to write after having writers block so yeah. . . (P.S. not intended to be offensive either)

I plead guilty...

    I plead guilty on all accounts of being a bad Californian.  What constitutes a bad Californian?  And why I am I guilty of this?  Because I am living "my" dream, and not "the" dream. 
    The "California" dream is to mingle with celebrities, stay healthy, enjoy the outdoors, enjoy the sunshine, make your riches, and live the "easy" life.  The dream is stay on the beach all day with my best buddies, to surf until my arms are tired,  and to be tan with no noticeable tan lines.  Am I a bad Californian because I do little or none of these activities?
    "My" dream differs a lot from the "California" dream.  I like to stay inside with my buddies playing video games.  I actually like when it rains, because sometimes there is too much sun here.  Everyday the same thing and its nice to have a change for a day or two.  I don't surf or play any organized sports beyond basketball or football with my buddies every now and then.  The only reason I am tan is because I work outside at a pool, otherwise I would be super pale.  I never keep in shape by running outside, going to the gym, or riding a bike.  Sometimes all this nice weather and Californian spirit makes me feel guilty for not getting out there more often.
    In the end, I'm still Californian in that I'm still living a dream.  Whether or not it's "the" dream is a matter of opinion.  But can anyone really live up to the standards of Hollywood and pop culture?  I say just live how you want because it's all about freedom out here.  We are all living the dream if we can just do that.

YouTube worth 1.65 Billion dollars

Wow! Hard to believe the creation of the website YouTube was bought out by google for 1.65 billion dollars. What makes this story so amazing was that three men, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were living normal lives, created the video site. Developed in Menlo Park, California more than two years ago, YouTube has become the number one site to display your videos. YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. Is hard to believe that the creators of YouTube had yet to make any profits from their site. YouTube bring in about 30 million viewers monthly, and google thought it would be a good idea to by mow and keep the popular site out of Yahoos hands. I believe this is the American dream, to one day create something all your own, something that you actually take pride in, and over a short period of time eventually become a billionaire.

Technology Anyone?

So... here I am sitting at my computer for the last THREE hours trying to figure out what I did wrong with my wirless connection. After kicking my toe on my desk, screaming at my laptop, and calling every tech support I could, what happened?!? It just came on. Sometimes I hate technology. I love my laptop because of the accessability it gives me, but please, do we really need all this technology. Because of the painstaking trouble I had tonight, I decided this blog should be on technology and the fast paced world California is. I work in the biotech field, and to find a job outside of California working in a lab like mine is very hard to find. But if it weren't for our wonderful computers and machines, biotech would be going nowhere. I love working in an industry that can help save someone's life or even prevent illness for someone. So although I get angry at my little laptop, I could not be more thankful for the technology that is coming out today. I guess that with everything, you must accept the bad. But thankfully we have places like Saulk Institue, a leading cancer research facility as well as other research labs using all of our new gadgets to try out stem cell research and so forth. So although my toe now hurts, I can be thankful to go into work tomorrow, turn on a machine and know if it wasn't for technology, I would be out of a job!! Have a good night everyone!

I have one, DO YOU?

I cannot believe I did not think of this sooner. So many people have one and here I am wondering what to write about next. I was ALWAYS the type to say I would never have one. I would constantly make fun of my friends for having one and wasting there time on it. I go on this website on the daily now and I can tell you myself, I STILL think it is ridiculous how much time I spend on it. I make fun of myself for having one and still make fun of other people for having one. Yes, I am talking about MYSPACE!

Let me give you a little background about Myspace. Myspace originated in CALIFORNIA and all of a sudden people from other states started using it too. Myspace was started up by Tom Anderson and has been the #6 most visited website in the world and #3 in the United States. Tom Anderson graduated from UC Berkeley and then UCLA. He then created Myspace and now there are over 300 million people who use myspace all over the world. There are 30 million people who have a myspace in California.

This brings me to the criticisms about Myspace and how it provokes more violence and just ruins a person's life. I completely disagree! If a person blames Myspace for ruining a relationship... it was already going bad to begin with. The cases about young girls getting raped and sexually harassed is ludicrous... if they wouldnt place such provactive pictures and information this would not occur as often. Myspace has tools to block a person and people shouldnt place private information on the website in the first place.

I decided to have one only to keep in touch with friends and family and not for any other reason. It is set on private just like it should be. It was really good Tom made this myspace craze.

Fakeness

I was sitting in front of my computer thinking about what i should write about in this blog post. Naturally, I have so many ideas I would like to share as I'm sure many of you do. But for some reason I can't help the feeling that I dont want to write about something were people might think theres something wrong with me or that I'm a bad person. That's when it dawned on me that Californians seem to care a lot more about what others think about them than anyone else I know. Why is it that nobody wants to be the oddball. When it comes to issues about abortion, gay marriage and immigration, most people want to go with the flow. Even if its not how they really feel, people feel like they have to say what others want to hear. I hate being a victim of this. For example, on gay marriage, do people really think it should be legalized or is that just what they feel they should say? Everyone I ask say "If its not bothering me then I dont care." Thats a very likely answer. Do people just not care about the topic or do they just not want to seem like a hater. Nobody seems to hava an opinion these days, everyone feels safer in neutral grounds. Why is this? Its the people who take a stand that make a difference.

Silicon Valley

Many essays and observations regarding California focus on the idea that "things happen here first" or that our state constantly produces new industries and ways of life. This proves true on all counts if one thinks about the information age in which we live. Contrary to some people's belief, not all technology comes Japan and other east Asian countries, much actually comes from right here in California. For example, Xerox's PARC facility (located in Palo Alto) is credited with the creation of the computer mouse and the modern GUI (Graphic User Interface, or the code that saves you from working in only text). Our state leads the nation by very far from a technological standpoint. Only little islands of high-tech thinking (such as MIT) situated elsewhere in the country can possibly compete with our very own silicon valley.

Silicon valley is a very interesting place, possessing a (short) history filled with brilliant ideas, brilliant businesses, and the unabashed plundering of both. Essentially, the early innovates of computer technology all took part in the practice of stealing from each other when competition demanded it (and left dealing with lawsuits for later). An example of this is seen when the PARC facility developed the innovations already mentioned, they were soon stolen by Apple. Not to be upstaged, Microsoft promptly stole the ideas from Apple. This is well illustrated in the 1999 movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, which follows the true stories of tech giants Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Paul Allen, and Steve Ballmer in their early days. From its questionable, yet fascinating, beginnings to today, California's silicon valley area continues to be the national leader in technological innovation.

A Useful Blog

So far, the most useful blog I have found comes from, Shane Goldmacher , a writer for the Capitol Weekly. He has interesting posts himself and he provides a useful set of links.

The California Observer