Final Project Topics

September 10th, 2012

I narrowed down three topics that I would be interested in.

1) Guatemalan History paying special attention the United Fruits Company’s involvement in the 1950’s

2) Immigration to the US from Latin America and the Caribbean

3) African-American migration across the US during the great migration.

Week 2 — The Underpinnings of the Web

August 29th, 2012

I thought the “homework” for this week was very informative but I thought the most interesting and important part was the video for two reasons. The first being because I never realized how far back the being structure of  the internet went. I guess because I’m so young I thought that it was a relatively recent development. While it is true that the internet  that as I know it was created after I was born, the basis technology that it was based off of goes all the way to the 1950’s. I remember my mom telling how she watched black and white TV when she was growing up in the 1960s. As primitive as it was, I didn’t realize the technology was there and its amazing how quickly the technology developed in only a few decades.

The second reason I thought the video was the most interesting was because it got me thinking about something important. After seeing how the space race and government spurred the development of networks and the internet, it got me thinking the possible impact that disbanding NASA could have on future developments and new technologies. While there are many many more independent think tanks that do important research, without NASA’s contributions the internet might not be what we know it as today.