4 l:i : “5i i : “El VLADA GAISINA opinion@technewsiit.com TechN'ews | Tuesday, April 12, 2011 ‘Regretsy'-ing public forum postings By Ariel True TECHNEWS WRITER Regretsy.com has to be one of my favorite pastimes, right after Sudoku and Angry Birds. April Winchell is the author of this hilarious blog. April has done a lot of work as a voice actress, and she also worked on Roseanne back in the day. Every day there are new posts more hilarious than the last. If you have ever heard of Etsy.com, then you know that it is a place for people to sell handmade or vintage items. What April does is search through Etsy and find things that are a little bizarre. She also takes the time to look for people who might be reselling an item from a chain store and claim— ing they made it themselves. A lot of people on Etsy get extremely upset about any sort of mention of Regretsy. They must think that regretsy‘" the people featured on Etsy.com are possibly the greatest artists on the planet, and that the other site is a place for jealous losers who are mean and only there to make fun of the real artists. But really, if someone takes an octopus pendant and glues it to a belt buckle, can we actually call that art or homemade? Some of the artists on Etsy are amazing and do fabu— lous work, but others just put some glitter and feathers on a piece of wood and think theyve given the world a gift from God. I don’t understand how a group of “artists” became so sensitive. No one likes every piece of art that comes out. Not everyone likes Van Gogh and Picasso. Both have been ridiculed, so why are these individuals getting their pant— ies in a bunch, because a group of people don’t like their work? Who cares? Be thankful for the increased traffic to your lame store and move on. Criticism happens and the people at Regretsy just happen to be better at it than most. Deal. That goes for everyone who takes criticism personally: I don’t think you’re an idiot, I just think you had a momentary lapse of judgment and something you did was atrocious. Wel— come to the real world, where we all make mis— takes and someone will point them out. Helping Relieve Poverty Though T WWN.S( A r C h ive Home Gallery ._.. n ntact Charity SOLD Store Skants Egypt from an insider’s perspective By Sara EIShafie TECHNEWS WRITER This week, we continue to share excerpts from Sara’s blog http://asandstorminbastille. blogspot.com/, describing her experience amid the recentEgyptian Revolution. Friday, January 28, 2011: Day 4 of protests 1 1:00pm Just watched the press conference with Robert Gibbs. SUMMARY: It is perfectly clear that the US government has not been in touch with the Egyptian government; they, like everyone else, have no idea where Mubarak has fled, and it looks bad on their part because the fact that they haven’t been in touch with Mubarak yet makes it all too ob— vious and all too quickly that there was never any relationship with Mubarak to begin with — theyve been bribing him the entire time. He was never an ally, he was a dictator that they were paying off. The US is finally on the coals for lying to the Middle East and to the American people for years. 1 1:30pm Things have calmed down now. The army has officially taken control of the country and everyone is waiting to see what hap— pens. People are walking freely in the streets. Even the army seems to have disregarded the curfew completely, as they haven’t done anything to enforce it thus far. Egyptians are glued to the news channels, as they have been all day (unless they were on the streets), wait— ing to see what will happen next... Everyone is reeling. Egyptians are reeling. The entire world is reeling. Everyone in the 43 Posted on April 10, 2011 by Bronc Drywall Filed in Clothing, Don't Ask Me Regretsycom VISIT - WWW.WH|TESOX.COM/UN|V TO PURCHASE DISCOUNTED WHITE SOX TICKETS SPECIALLY PRICED TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS AND STAFF. UPCOMING GAMES ARE :APRIL15,APR|L29, AND MAY 20. world and especially in Egypt is trying to process exactly what happened today and how we’ve arrived at this point. No one has any idea what will happen next... Saturday, January 29, 2011: Day 5 of protests 12:203m Breaking news: Hosni Mubarak has finally shown his ugly face... I was totally wrong. I don’t believe this. I honestly thought we would not see him again until he was found dead or in a rabbit hole. But here he is, clean cut in a suit, delivering an address next to the flag of Egypt, talking out of his ass... I fear that Egyptians are about to show the world what anger really is. 1:20am Obama is addressing the world. He is very disappointed with Mubaraks speech, and he demands that Mubarak keep his promises and affect change immediately. Saying again that the US has had a good relationship with Egypt and we have strong economic ties with Egypt, but there absolutely has to be change. I’m still waiting to hear the words, “Mubarak must step down.” 2:203m New demonstrations in Tahrir Square, as well. Thousands. But they are not fighting the soldiers and the soldiers are not fighting them. Good. Who knows, maybe the soldiers are reconsidering their loyalty. Many people are resting a bit and prepar— ing and plotting for tomorrow. Rabbinna ma’ana. I have utterly no idea what will hap— pen tomorrow — or even 5 minutes from now. Egypt’s fate is changing by the hour... To be continued... School programs prepare for life beyond college By Becca Waterloo A&E EDITOR “I can change the world with my own two hands.” — Ben Harper It always seems like such a cop—out when you’re asked to “tell them about yourself” in a job interview. I was preparing for mine when I thought of the motto I realized I have recently been living by: to positively affect as many people as possible with the decisions I make. Now, that may sound a bit generic, but after analyzing what I’ve been involved in on campus over the past couple of years, I found a consistent theme in the ways I spend my time. Alternative Spring Break can be used as a recent example. Planning a trip for 30 IIT members to travel cross—country and volunteer through Habitat for Humanity has layers of conse— quences. First, you are providing the experi— ence for IIT. It gives those involved some— thing to reflect on; they choose to use their spring break to help others in Oakland and understand service from their own perspec— tive. We emphasize the “service learning” aspect of such a trip. Second, they re set— ting a great example. Before they take off, they ask you to help them make ASB pos— sible. While you may not have the time to do what the}? re doing, you could help them financially, spiritually or just with a pat on the back. Third, when those in the Bay Area hear that students from Chicago are travel— ing all the way to California to help them, the thought formulates in their head: “What am I doing with my time?” If someone came from afar to help you and your neighbors, how appreciative would you be? Lastly, af— ter the week is done, an experience has been created the students and staff will never for— get. Theyfll bring back their stories, possibly do it again, and invite others to join them. Another example: for the past three se— mesters, I’ve been deeply involved in IPRO 333: Building Communities through Cof— fee. Crop to Cup (the coffee company that’s taken over Global Grounds) already has an amazing incentive to give coffee farm— ers more money for the work they dedicate their lives to, and to us, the knowledge of who is growing our coffee beans. Our job as IPRO students is to increase the number of dollars in the farmers’ pocket and exert and share the technical knowledge and skills we’ve accumulated at IIT. This is in order to teach Crop to Cup and the farmers how to not only improve production, but encourage creating solutions that will better their lives (which then comes back to the coffee that goes into our daily cups). We’ve been work— ing on a banda (a hut) that will hopefully be built in July and will become a solution extending not only to future coffee storage units, but providing a new method of build— ing in Uganda. It’s an international—level project, of which I have been so lucky to be a part for the past year. I won’t lie, this year has been full of stress, rejection, tears and exhaustion. I couldn’t have done it alone. It would also be easier if we had another 24 hours in a day, and 3 more days to the week. However, every time I finish a book, I think of the accomplish— ments I’ve made and look forward to the story I’m about to start next. With three weeks left of my college career, you can only imagine what’s running through my mind. I am trying to determine what I want to do with my architecture degree and set short, medium and long—term goals in life. I’ve es— tablished my standards and agreed to com— mit to service as much as I can during my lifetime. I give full credit to the IPRO, ASB, and my goal for life fulfillment that helped me determine the need for a career that will help me do good for humanity. I won’t have these organizations or classes to help me get my service fix, but I will find new options or create solutions of my own and spread the passion as far as I can fly. My academic year is ending, but my life is just beginning. I want to ask you now, what do you plan on doing with your time? Come talk to me and we can figure out ways to change the world.