The 5Ws of Journalist Wounded in Syria Evacuated to Safety

Who? Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times and Syrian rebels
What? Syrian rebels rescued the wounded Paul Conroy
Where? Homs, Syria
When? February 23, 2012
Why? the city was besieged

Dark and Gloomy

It was dark and gloomy, but I knew I shouldn't have called for room service. The figure that gave service was encased in the shadows of the night. There was no expression on the man's face, but there was a slight dent on his face that indicated that he was smiling. Sensing something terrible about his hidden grin, I decided to preserve the lighter and knife in my left pocket. As he approached me, he stretched his arm forward, holding a wrapped object. The blanket that enshrouded the item matched the color of his barely-visible pale skin of his face. The man left the room and left the object on the bed without speaking or making any noise, and left a red stain on the floor, and I ignored it.

The blackout did not last, and the electricity returned to the television that was powered before. As minutes turned to hours, static flashed on the television screen. The static was not the usual black and white, but red and black. Pushing the useless buttons on the remote did not help remove the static, instead the volume increased, and muddy noises were heard in the background. The static seemed hellish, but its infernal twin was yet to appear in this twisted version of reality.

It began raining with an eerie mix of lightning. Shivering in the dismal night, I noticed that the lights were slowly receding unnaturally. Coming from outside the window were streaks of shadows that slithered towards the door that exits to the hallway. As more and more streak swirled inside the room, the weak light that came from the window diminished and became untraceable. The door where the streaks were coiling towards was expanding inward towards the room. Afraid that the door was "alive", I ducked behind the love seat expecting to see a mutated version of the man from before to run at me. The door stopped "breathing", but it took me forty minutes to stop my hyperventilation.

My breathing became calm, and I knew I was inside a "dream", but everything still seemed real. Everything could be felt, and smelled; the mind fools. Knowing that I was going to get attacked anytime soon, I still could not wake myself up until there was sharp pain in the body. To attack my nerves, I decided to walk out of the room to kill the nightmare even if I were to suffer from fright. As I sneaked outside the room, I grabbed the knife and lighter that remained in my left pocket. Knowing that the lighter's energy would give away my position, I decided to use the knife only. Little did I know that I would soon be stalked by a mass of flesh that was crawling away from the room-the same object that the man left on the bed.

I began to try and stumble down the building's stairs to try and wake up, but I also did not want to fail and end up being "touched" by the fleshy crawler. I decided to get everything over with, so I covered my sensitive spots on my neck that would feel the perturbing "touch" from the assailant. I held the knife for support and sprinted to the flesh creature. I felt my small hairs on my shoulders and neck stand while I made contact with the crawler. As soon as I "touched" it, I was awake but still could not move. I felt and sensed the man's hand on my neck and shoulders, so I forced myself awake, successful and proud that the dream was not real and my life was given back.

Outdoors or Indoors Shopping?

The best strategy of buying items at Brick-and-Mortar stores and online stores is to try the items in the store where the items are in display. After the item is tested, it can be bought online by inputting the information that the tag shows. The item will not be touched in any way that can harm the buyer if bought online, of course. The item is still vulnerable to be damaged or destroyed, but not ruined by different testers in Brick-and-Mortar stores. The advantage of buying items in the Brick-and-Mortar stores are the refunds, returns, offered warranties, and renewals. Online stores take longer when shipping and returning items that are defective. The advantage of buying online, however, is the high possibility that the product is safe and intact. Online stores have nearly unlimited amount of items, and they are easier to find than searching through local or far away stores that have limited supplies. Preferably, it is much better to buy in stores than online. Buying online reduces employment of persons in stores, and buying online prevents from shopping outdoors. If one does not shop outdoors, then they miss opportunities for other items to buy and compare them with their wish lists.

Who owns the product you purchased?

When the product is bought, it belongs to the bank, and the person holding the item. The copyrights, however, go to the owner. The ownership of the product is divided amongst the purchaser and the company that released the item. The prohibitions come from the distrust of reselling or re-modifying the product, in which the individual the bought the item would gain money that could instead be directed towards the original owner. A DVD may not be copied, but it can be shared to different people depending on the permission of the owner. The true owner, has sold the item to the next owner, and cannot interfere with the use of the item in any way that conflicts with owner privacy. Modifying a video game console, on the other hand, may still happen in privacy. The original owner of the product cannot file lawsuits unless the item is being sold and is exploited to the public; aware of the redistribution, modification, or hacking of said product. In the end, both the buyer and seller divide property rights amongst each other that will protect against copyright issues .

Expectation for the Second Semester

I expect this semester to be more crucial than the first, simply because the second semester requires the knowledge acquired from the first semester, and more effort needs to be applied on the assignments. The similarities of the first and second semester will be tests, essays, quizzes. and projects required to complete the courses. I expect the projects to be more time consuming as the end of the school arrives closely.
To improve this semester, or this year, I will have to hold myself back from procrastination. The earlier the assignments are done, the better the focus is before losing all energy to even try and finish the homework. Other important improvements are the grades. The grades must be boosted to a peak that I have had before falling for procrastination. Improved grades will increase the Grade Point Average, and will allow me to miss assignments in case of emergencies.

The "Google Effect"

The reason behind the results are the amount of saved data in memory storage. Most of this information is sometimes stored temporarily, or the information may not be as vital. Some of this information that is not memorized may only serve its purpose once, and then become discarded. Data like this resembles the notes kept inside a notebook, or a grocery list. The mind is the RAM to the Internet, or it is the memory that is defragmented and cleaned from data that has not been used again. I have not fallen to the "Google effect" because everything I research is for me to remember. The only "Google" related "effect"I have is bookmarking any interesting webpages where I need to gather some interesting information even though I already know what it will say. The only solution to stop the "Google effect" is by creating restrictions to the Internet towards easy information that needs to be studied to remember. For example, the user can be blocked from accessing data temporarily, mainly in educational and medical institutes. One solution that is less likely to help is assigning users to to remember information gathered from the Internet that is interesting and not tedious.

Technology of Tommorrow/Today

This year, technology will be upgraded, obviously. The SOPA legislation is threatening the future of the Internet, so there is a probability of less enjoyment from the blueprints that are in queue. I have learned that when apparatuses are released hastily, the prices of past equipments decrease. Money is, and will always be, an issue. There is no doubt that the conservation of money will become common for a couple of people, and it will be necessary to keep this money for items of higher priority, then, partially outdated devices.
The decision of which technological instrument to purchase is simple when looking at reviews and specifications of the product online. Sadly, this method will become difficult to use if such a legislation such as SOPA were to control advertisements, claim copyright, and remove posts, websites, and videos online without warning. Another effect of this possible legislation is the lack of freedom online, which in turn punctures holes of the identities that hide private lives online. No one would feel secure, and the technology of this year would be less enjoyable, losing the interest of the consumers.

Technology v. Education

It is true to say that technology has replaced older methods of educating in a classroom. Computers have won the competition in class materials. They have attracted students into an online world they do not wish to ever leave. As far as it goes, the only way to catch the attention of a class is by staying up-to-date with the tools used by children, teens, and young adults. Focus jumps a level and distractions become volatile. By interrupting with a hand on a monitor, the teachers are able to attain the eyes of their viwers. Besides, modern technology has become so efficient that notes, assignments, and lessons are easier to distribute, especially when a student is absent from school-the student has no excuse for missing assignments and is able to submit homework without the problem of failing the subject. Nearly everything one can learn may come from Internet surfing.

Electronic Media v. Paper Media

Electronic media has major disadvantages compared to paper media. That is because electronic media is vulnerable to being manipulated by outside sources that donate to support the articles. Paper media is efficient only in cases where there is no electricity being used locally or if there is massive blackout. Paper media is commonly distributed for a cheaper price, and it can be taken anywhere without the need of a battery, battery charger, or electronic device to open the article.


Electronics may replace nearly everything, but there are still articles that need to be printed or written in case if electricity were depleted too quickly. Electronics will not be able to replace everything, because it requires electricity that is currently difficult to consume in terms of the economy. Rather, more natural and free energy sources will replace everything, such as paper. There is also the disadvantage of light emitted by electronics, which can damage the eye and confuse the observation of a light spectrum (black and white televisions do not damage the eye so quickly). Without paper, there is no electronics because paper inspires the idea of printing.

In the future... The web will tell us...

All the inventions we were supposed to have are according to the imagination brought by television. At the rate that society is evolving, the span of change is greater than previously portrayed or predicted. It tells us how much we are so close, yet so far from understanding the future by analyzing present day life. Some inventions, like the Soylent Green, are horrifying to think of, but only makes sense when creating an overpopulated Earth where food is insufficient and cannibalism substitutes.

The Internet will continue to evolve more closely to the outside world. It has its own society, but once the big picture is focused on the Internet and society, then expression for freedom will become more popular. Social networks will change to accommodate its users, and users will become more knowledgeable of the Internet. The Internet will understand its population, and its population will understand it. In the next ten years, there is a probability for more restrictions on the imagination of Internet users. According to the evolution of computers, the events shown on television will take a different shape or form when their date is long overdue.

Identity and Interaction

An alternate identity helps alienate audiences whom you don't want to present yourself to. A secret identity controls who sees it and what purpose it serves. Alternate identities best help when joining small online communities or subscribing anonymously to a site. These type of identities, however, do not help when used as a signature to something important like a bank account or when asked for personal identification (job application). Personal information is needed by important websites only if it is required by law. Usernames are a great example of what a bank account should not be.

Behavior can give away personal identification, but only through assumption and vague analysis. When masking personality, one should not behave the same on the Internet and offline. Disconnected from the Internet means acting who you are when socializing in "real life". Online communication may be compromising, so it is best to hide personality traits and have precaution with how and who you talk with. Any misconception will be troubling. Logging on is to take responsibility for your actions and behavior.

Reflection on "Growing Up Online"

Nearly everything the interviewees said about social networking is true. Even when the video is approximately 5 years old, it still keeps up with the generation of today's methods for communicating. I feel that there are some dangers mentioned in the video that most people are now aware of. The prohibition of letting someone surf the Internet remains the same, but there are emerging stalkers/predators who are still intruding the virtual homes of many computer users. To me, the most prominent scene that fit my socialization in the Internet is the one with the mother keeping vigilance over her kids. During weekends, by morals, I am not allowed to play online due to the homework I have to focus on. My parents, like the ones conscious about the dangers of the Internet, may not know how to work the computer, but they will turn off the power or remove privileges. I think that the video can still connect with an audience that has gotten bigger over time. Though the Internet is a place for freedom, there lurks an exposure to your whole life which could end up compromising your security. The Internet is a box that is full of unsuspecting surprises.

What Are My Online Experiences?

With the bountiful amount of computers in present day, I've been able to experience most of what the Internet has to offer. I've been able to write and discuss in forums that talk about gaming or computers. Some forums have even lead to discussion groups and huge communities where people disagree with each other but have common goals. It is good to talk to users online when talking about a subject, but there are downsides to talking with someone whom you don't see their face. The person behind a computer is a stranger. Their identity is hidden until they express their real feelings and thoughts. I've met friendly strangers online, but there are hostile entities who intend to cyber-bully people within a community and oppress them into low self-esteem. I've dealt with these people before and they always give away their identity once they talk out of the blue with lines such as,"You're an 18-year-old who lives with his mom," or ,"go play something else kid." There are strangers who believe the Internet is their own territory with the unconsciousness of nor realizing who they are talking to or what they are saying.