The Quiet Girl

 First of all, I am the firstborn. Nothing can change that. I don't need "Big Brother" to watch me because I'm the big sister. I proudly did not have to experience that horrible event that was watching your older sibling get more privileges than you, because I was that sibling, thank you very much.  The type of "Big Brother" I am talking about here is in reference to 1984's "Big Brother Is Watching You." I heard through word of mouth about something in the news about grocery stores rolling out digital price tags with- get this - cameras for facial recognition , which is greatly disturbing. This aspect of AI is the most disturbing of all I have heard that AI can do. Thankfully my local grocery stores use paper price tags, which makes me feel better.   This is only something that has been talked about in the news. If it's only a rumor going around, I don't take it seriously until I know that it is the truth or it is not the truth. However...

 Facebook in the 2000s was fun. It was much better than the politics, serious-matter-laden social media platform of today. Back then, it was all about posting random things to make people laugh, listen to music, and play games. There was no pressure to post major accomplishments in your life to compare yourself to, just mindless entertainment. Here are a few of the things I remember seeing when I first got a Facebook in middle school:  Pieces of Flair-online "buttons" with pictures of your interests, such as cats, clarinets, or mountains, sometimes with funny sayings on them.  Classic Memes, Goth and Emo Memes. The pictures were not perfect. Once, a schoolmate posted a video of herself and a friend at home, in their pajamas, (with messy ponytails and no makeup ) making pancakes and tossing them across the kitchen from pan to plate. "The Ultimate Flapjack!" the girl said as she laughed.  Another friend in early high school (early 2010 by this point) posted pictures o...

                                            =   The image presented on social media is not reality. Furthermore, it is not a reliable source of information when seeking the truth or the news. Well, many news companies are biased and I have even heard of people publishing "fake news," but social media is the all-time worst when it comes to seeking information. It has increasingly gotten worse as time has passed, to the point of being fake-ly ridiculous. I posted a post on this blog several years ago about my deleting of Facebook in order to get away from someone toxic, but also because I was tired of seeing people only posting their best moments and nothing else, not even the everyday tasks of their lives such as cooking, cleaning, or working on the car. I got a Facebook again...

                                                                                                                Adonyi Gabor from Pexels  I'm going to be honest, reading is not my favorite. It has to be a topic that really grabs me for me to get into the book. But with the current times I stumbled upon a book that my sister had read as a kid and enjoyed, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. She loved that book so much, she even did a book re...

   I remember when YouTube was in its first few years. I was 9 when the first video, "Me At the Zoo", was uploaded. YouTube was much better before it was bought out by Google. It seemed to be run by independent artists, musicians, makeup artists and hairstylists alike who otherwise would not get their content seen or heard. The musicians never edited themselves in any way, it was just them being them, with a simple guitar and their voices, playing in their bedrooms and singing naturally, or playing the clarinet in church or in their living rooms. No fancy backdrops, no fixing their hair up, just real music. And everyday people were getting views. YouTube should have stayed this way.  Here are some of the videos I enjoyed watching in the 2000s:  Skillet- Yours to Hold (Cover by Lauren and Ashley) : two girls were on a dorm bed. One girl played     her Taylor guitar very well, and the other girl sang very nicely. Very well done. I cannot find it any...

   I previously talked about AI and how detrimental it already is and how detrimental it has the potential to be. Now I am going to talk about Google, which is a whole other subject.  Google used to be a source of fun. When I was a kid I researched different subjects for many school projects on Google. Mom would search "Free Coloring Pages" for myself and my sister, print them out, and watch us color away. And the computer never showed pop-up ads for free coloring pages when my mom checked her email or went to order something on eBay later in the day. Mom would just search, the computer would never know, and all was well.  When I was in eighth grade, my mother began to tell me that she does not like Google because they were beginning to track her information. I could not fully comprehend what that meant, similar to a teenager not being able to grasp paying necessary, adult bills. Now as a grown-up I understand what Google does, and I greatly do not appreciate it....