What I really researched was a less cult-ish side to things. Science fiction is where people can imagine incredible things that have to do with technology and science. Since there are such things as science and technology in the real world, it's easy for science fiction and reality to overlap. For instance, there are automatic doors, cell phones and handheld computers like PDA's and Crackberries. You don't really think about it too much since these things are a part of your everyday life, but a while ago such things were unheard of. They were merely a staple of science fiction futuristic devices that people only dreamed of existing. I looked into how real-life things were inspired by literature rather than the other way around. Literature is usually influenced by real life.

Since I don't want to go any further and risk boring Mrs. X with everything that was in my essay (because I'm sure she had enough of it the first time around) I'm going to get right into what I really had planned.

I'm sure that everyone knows how the computer is really important in most sci-fis, right? You know, like it takes over the world or something? Well, today, there is something like that, and that's the internet and privacy. I don't want to sound like some crazy person who wears tinfoil to stop the satellites from scanning my brain but the internet and the world of technology can be a scary place. I feel that it would be a good idea to inform you about it a bit, since it has something to do with my project and of course, everyone in this room.
Okay, I'm assuming that everyone knows about the World Wide Web. I'm sure you've all used it before, and if you haven't, I can't help but wonder if you're kind of crazy. Anyway, the internet is an amazing thing, isn't it? It can do just about anything, and can connect you to people all over the world. Of course, you knew that though, right? You know about all of these highly popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace and all that. Can I get a show of hands for people who have a Facebook account?

There's a few of you, I guess then, eh? Well, I'm hoping that you read the fine print when you were joining. Okay, seriously, who does that? Well. You should know that you can never fully delete your account, right? It's true. There's still a little profile for people to check out even after you try to get rid of it. It's basically permanent. Everything on the internet is permanent, from e-mails to text messages to pictures, it's all stored in servers and caches all over the place, and you'll never get rid of it.

Back to the whole Facebook thing. I have a quote here, from the Privacy Policy on Facebook that you might find interesting if you haven't read it.

"We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services, Facebook Platform developers and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile." (Facebook Privacy Policy)

Scary. So, what they're saying is that they'll just plaster everything they find about you on your page. Sure, you might say, "oh, well it saves me the trouble". But, have you considered that you might not want some of that stuff on there, or this company looking into your business?

So, what this means is that you have your own personal company to research you, yay, how exciting. Well, have you thought about who else could be looking you up? I know that you all want to get jobs in the future, go to college or university, all kinds of respectable things like that, right? Who wouldn't? You see, there's a catch nowadays though. A big catch. Since whatever you put on the internet stays there, anyone with enough time on their hands can find you. Yeah, so guess what those employers and recruiters are doing---yup, they're browsing whatever you've got posted all over Facebook and Myspace, Livejournal, Youtube, whatever they can find with a search engine.

Now, imagine you're an employer or recruiter for a school. You have a promising looking future student or employee. You decide that it's probably a good idea to look them up. Hell, they put their e-mail address right on that application, why not? So, you go to Facebook and typing in that e-mail, hit search and pop! There's a photo of that kid with a beer in their hand, drunk as a skunk. Pop! There's an angry blog they wrote about their last employer. Pop! Oh, a video of them doing something really stupid. Well, that application is going in the discard pile. You don't have time for someone like that.

Do you see how easy it is for them to do that? Crazy easy. I hope you're taking notes like "erase incriminating photos..."

Okay, you've seen it from the side of the employer/ recruiter person, so how about from your POV. Say you have a Facebook page. Okay, scratch that, I know most of you have one so let's take a real good look at this. You have a Facebook page. On it you have all kinds of fun stuff like what school you go to, your interests and so forth. Nothing to bad there. Well, say to add things like photos, which is real easy to do. And you think, "Ha, well, that was so funny, let's put that up for everyone else to see." Let's pretend this picture is of you and your friends. Oh how nice. That's a good one. It makes you look like a regular well adjusted person. That would be a positive thing to the whole Facebook thing with the employer / recruiter thing. Now, imagine that you or maybe even one of your friends puts up a picture of you passed out or something equally embarrassing. You probably don't think about how that could affect your future. Your popularity, maybe, but you don't consider much else. That seemingly harmless upload could cost you a good job or acceptance from a school.

Okay, that's enough with that for now. I'm going to talk about the stuff I read before I forget to, because that would be bad. Alright, I read Next, Dune, 1984, Brave New World and some random articles from magazines like national geographic. They were all science fiction or related to it, so that right there ties into my topic. Next dealt mostly with the issues surrounding the integrity of a person and the right to their body. I'm talking about some of the worst violations of privacy here, like people owning parts of your genome kind of violations. That was kind of scary in a way, because it was all set in basically our times, so yay paranoia.

Dune was a different sort of book. It was a mix of historical/fantasy/sci-fi. Really, it ties in better with my essay than the whole privacy issue, which was mostly in Next and the other books.

Brave New World, which I seem to have misplaced, dealt with cloning and things much like Next, only in twisted kind of world where social classes are really enforced and people are required to do exactly what they've been programmed to do.

1984 was a really good book too, and it kind of had all of the issues between its two covers. The most interesting part of it wasn't necessarily the whole dictatorship, though that was strange and fascinating all in itself. The most relevant part of the book was the complete and total lack of privacy like in Next. You have heard of "Big Brother"? BB? Yeah, well you could think of him as some creepy control freak that has to know everything that you're doing at all times. And, that leads me up to my next little bit.

This poster here, the "Big Brother is Watching Yo", it's you but it's been cut off, can be twisted to fit into my little presentation. You see, it's not necessarily Big Brother who is watching, per say it's the fact that Google can see you. I know, I know, I'm going into that whole paranoia thing again, but it's for a good cause. Alright. I want another show of hands or two, ready?

How many people have used Google? You can probably keep your hands up for the rest of them too if you've got your hand up now.

How many people have Googled themselves?

How many people have used Google maps?

Alright, cool. So you know about the most popular search engine in the interweb. Great. So, since you've all used it, you know how simple it is to just type in a couple words and find a place then, right? Yeah I thought so. Well, I had this whole thing planned out that I was going to 411 someone in this class with Google. I was going to have their address, phone numbers, list of who lives with them, directions to their house and a satellite map. Then, I realized that that was way creepy and didn't really want to do it. So, instead, I took a couple seconds and took a screenshot of this building here. The school, yes. And this arrow here, it's should say you are here. However, the ink died so there's just this big red arrow. Anyway, you get the idea, right? Here we are right here.

Now, the pictures taken from the satellites like this one, only bigger, are kind of old. For instance, I have a picture of my house where it doesn't have the new garage on it. So they are old enough pictures. It is a handy little tool on the internet too. However, I don't know about anyone else, but do you find it kind of strange that Google can just go and take pictures of everywhere on the planet, stick it all together and present it to the world? I think that's quite the advancement, and a good boredom buster.

It can be used for good things to, you, like, I'm sure George Bush probably used to try to find out where Osama is. But in all seriousness, this kind of information at the fingertips of basically anyone who has an internet connection and a pulse is somewhat disturbing. I'm not saying that you should go and rip your internet out and toss your computer out the window. I'm just suggesting that you look at things with a critical eye. I know that most people, myself included, like to imagine that everything is oh so fine. But the fact of the matter is that technology is just growing and shows no signs of stopping whatsoever. We have to keep up with it or it will leave us rather ignorant to how things really work.

Diaries are no longer those small secret books that you stash under your mattress, and then threaten to break all your brother's G.I. Joe's for reading. They are online things, available for almost anyone to read. Or no one. It all depends on how much you feel like sharing with the world at large.

One of the most famous is, of course, MySpace. MySpace is a notorious name, due to news events that have brought to light a darker side of the internet. However, they aren't the only ones. Oh no! There are quite a few more. In fact, if you've done any web surfing at all, you probably stumbled across one, even if you didn't realize what it was. LiveJournal (also called LJ), GreatestJournal (GJ), Xanga and BlogSpot are, along with MySpace, some of the biggest ones. But there are even more. InsaneJournal, JournalFen, the list goes on and on and on.

They are all a part of something called "open source code." Meaning that anyone, anyone at all, can get their base code, take it, and start up their own blogging sites. I know that that is JournalFen was created, as well as GreatestJournal.

Now, these "blogs" are customizable. Everything from a background image, to something called a "mood theme", literally a small representation of "how you're feeling", to what font you use can be changed. And they can be changed as often as the "blogger", the writer, chooses. Some are eye-searingly bad. Some are works of art in themselves. Some people even offer "style creation services." Meaning they will create a background, mood theme, font colour, and header image, according to what the asker wants. Now, this usually goes hand in hand with an exchange of some sort, but never involves money.

Seems a bit harmless doesn't it? People, sharing their thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears, across pixelated pieces of text around the world. It'll bring the world closer as a whole.

For some this is true. Support groups for everything from eating disorder recovery, to child abuse recovery, to gambling addiction range far and wide across the internet in many, many different languages. There are tips on surviving divorce, or on how to get out from under credit card debt, or even on how to live "greener" without all the chemicals, and pollutants so prevalent in our world today.

And blogging sites make it possible for all these different kinds of people to get together from all the corners of the globe, without leaving their living rooms, commiserate with each other and then move on. All with the anonymity of a fake name, and an icon, a small picture used to represent the user.

Of course, there is a darker side. Paedophiles, rapists, and even worse sometimes stalk these sites looking for their next victims. They are, regrettably, a part of our worldwide society. There are procedures in place to protect minors and others from them, but there are cracks through which they can fall.

There is, however, one other group that needs an introduction, because, again with the help of the internet and these blogging sites, they have found each other, across oceans, and trade fictional stories, photos, icons, art, and thoughts on every single aspect of books, comics, television, movies, and more.

They are, collectively, fandom.

"Fandom" is the only word that can describe any of them. There are artists, writers, icon makers, analysts and more. They take characters from any type of media and draw pictures of them, write stories about them, and dissect the "canon", the original work, by the original author, from every point of view.

You want to read about Sirius Black and Remus Lupin (from Harry Potter) or Legolas and Gimli (from The Lord of the Rings) having more than just a close friendship? Someone (many someones) has written it, or drawn it, or used selected pieces of text from the books to support the theory.

Your favourite anime has ended without a satisfactory ending? Write it yourself! Or, find someone who shares your love of the series, and has written their own version.

Think about it. An entire section of society that reads, and watches the same sort of things that everyone does, and then takes it and extrapolates it further. These are mothers, teachers, lawyers. They come from every single walk of life, and in a variety of age ranges. Some of them still remember the days of underground "fanzines" (magazines written by fans) for Star Trek: The Original Series. They remember the days when it was hard to do all the things that fandom does now and takes for granted.

Blogging sites have brought them together. They form "communities" that discuss the book, movie, or whatever, and offer art drawn by fans, or stories that are written by other fans.

These fan works range across the entire spectrum; from the most benign to the most erotic and pornographic possible. Some are, frankly, disgusting and disturbing. Others are just plain bad. And still, they are there. Still, people continue to produce them.

I'm not going to get into "why." That would take too long, and frankly, I'm not even sure of all my own reasons for being involved. Let alone anyone else's. Suffice it to say, we will paint them with a broad brush and say "because they want to."

Back to the blogging sites. They have brought together the legions of fandom, and spread them further. People no longer feel isolated in their love of these things, even though there isn't anyone close to them to talk about it with. Even if there's no one in your city that likes a show, or book, or cartoon, chances are, there's a website, archive, or "blogging community" dedicated to it.

At the end of May, one of the biggest ones, LiveJournal, seemingly bowing to the outside influence of an online vigilante group, posed a massive deletion and banning of over five hundred journals. Considering their site numbers in the millions of users, that may seem a very small percentage.

However, some of those banned were fandom journals. Very popular fandom journals. As well as an online discussion group about the book Lolita. Then the rumblings began. Fandom, pretty much as a whole, pulled together and demanded an answer. They wanted to know why this was happening without explanation.

Fandom, though, is, quite terrifyingly, legion. They did their own digging, made their own discoveries, and found the online vigilante crowing about how they'd finally made LJ/SixApart delete all those "paedophile journals." Some of those journals were for evil characters in an online role-playing game. Some were rape, or molestation survivors. And some were a discussion group for Lolita.

It took LiveJournal, and their parent company SixApart, almost two days, to finally address their users; after, of course, they'd already spoken to a reporter. No one, whether they paid for the service or not, received any answers at all. Then, when Barak Berkowitz, CEO of SixApart, finally did speak, his post was vaguely worded and didn't answer the questions posed to him.

Over the next pair of weeks, LiveJournal did its best to control the damage they had done to a surprisingly, to them it seems, large number of their user base. Then, they sold what they called "permanent accounts." What these are, are for one hundred fifty ($150) American dollars, a blogger can buy an account with a few extra perks, and never have to pay again. They even offered to donate some of that money to several online watch groups. Everything seemed, once again, semi-harmonious in blogging land.

People still weren't satisfied, though. They wanted clarification on site policies, and laws used to determined said policies. They wanted to know, exactly, what they were and were not allowed to do. LJ/SixApart remained vague. They attempted to explain, but they didn't seem to realise that while they may see fandom as a useless pastime, those that participate are not all teenagers without full time jobs and no social lives.

Fandom wanted answers. They wanted clear-cut answers that made sense and didn't contradict itself, sometimes within the same paragraph! LJ/SixApart were annoyingly vague.

What came next is still on-going. LiveJournal Abuse having received a report, deleted, and banned, a pair of fandom artists. When they were contacted for an explanation, the one they gave was in direct contradiction to earlier statements. The explanation? "The material in question, while not depicting child pornography, has no artistic merit."

Apparently, there is a loophole, in the law that states that something can be non-pornographic legally, but still be obscene. These "obscenity laws" are the ones that are being quoted as for the reason for the refusal to host said "art."

Now, there is the problem. See, most of fandom, no matter how childish they may act at times, are reasonable adults. If the announcement had been "We are no longer comfortable hosting this type of content." then most of those involved would have simply sighed and gone to find another place to be. Now, they would have also taken their money with them.

But LiveJournal/SixApart is a business. They start losing paying customers and something has to be done! So, instead of admitting that they are unwilling to host the content, they keep quoting laws. I said earlier that those that participate in fandom come from all walks of life. Some of those walks include lawyers, who have taken the time to read over said laws and then come back with a resounding "But the law doesn't say that!" to LJ/SixApart.

Yet, that is what the company keeps saying. We in fandom keep asking for further clarification, and a change in the site's Terms of Service to reflect those clarifications, but as of yet, we've not received a response other than back-pedalling, contradictions, and in one case, a known employee using his employee account with them to post disparaging remarks about fandom in an open forum.

So, LiveJournal/SixApart, Barak Berkowitz and others, I, as a member of fandom, am asking here and now: Will you answer these concerns? Will you take a stand and state what you will and will not allow? Will you actually perform customer service and listen to those customers when they have concerns?

Or will you take your tried and true method of muddying the waters further?

I am cat_mcdougall on LiveJournal, and I am a member of fandom, and I would like some straight answers.

1. To pass time.
2. To share your personal life experiences.
3. To share knowledge about a specific topic.
4. To provide up to the minute commentaries about a current event.
5. To complain or rant about a topic that bugs you.
6. To convey mood.
7. To make money .
8. To show off.
9. To persuade.
10. To be able to write and fulfill passion.

1. Choose a host for your blog. Here are some more popular blog hosting websites (remember their letters, I'll be referring to them by letter throughout):
   1. livejournal.com
   2. blogger.com
   3. spaces.live.com
   4. myspace.com
   5. wordpress.com
   6. 360.yahoo.com

2. Now sign up for a blog.
   1. Click Create a Journal
   2. Click CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW (bottom right)
   3. Click Create your space (mid-page)
   4. Click SignUp (top right)
   5. Click Start your free WordPress Blog (top right)
   6. Click Get Started (mid-right)

3. Enter your details
4. Begin blogging!

Most blog software have public or private only, which makes Livejournal one of the few sites to offer more than just your ordinary blog. Livejournal allows the user to be more open and share things that they wouldn't normally share on a public blog. The majority of Livejournal users use their journal as an online diary, sharing more of themselves. They use their Livejournal as an actual journal, allowing the reader, their chosen readers, a glimpse inside of who they are.

Bloggers, on the other hand, find a niche, be it sports, technology, politics, or religion, and that is the focus of every post. Is that a bad thing? No, it just sets Livejournal apart from traditional blogs more.

With Livejournal's highly customizable and user friendly set up, it allows the user to be able to set up a nice looking site without having to know how to write the code to it..Livejournal also affords those without the means to host their own domain and software, a place to make their voices heard. Can you find that with other blog software and sites? Yes you can, but unlike a blog, Livejournal is a community of friends and families sharing themselves with others who share the same interests without opening themselves to the entire world.

Livejournal sets itself apart with their sense of community. Could you get that at other sites, sites for social networking, but again, Livejournal is not a social networking site, they are a journal site. A site that was built for people to share their thoughts and feelings within their chosen community.

Livejournal draws together those who share similar interests, have similar goals, have had similar life struggles, forging strong bonds between it's users. They haven't done this through a dating scheme, nor a social networking scheme, they have done it by giving it's users a safe space to share a part of themselves that they wouldn't share anywhere else. Could you call Livejournal a social networking site? Sure you could, but it was around before social networking sites were big.

Could you call Livejournal a blog? Sure you could, because by definition, it can be used as a traditional blog. No one is saying that it's not either of those things. What is being said is that Livejournal is more than just a blog, more than just a social networking site. Livejournal embraces both of those ideas and puts them together in a safe space for one to share the things they wouldn't share elsewhere.